The Makoharu Festival 2015
by Carrot-Bunny
Summary: Just an anthology of my submissions for the whole festival. NSFW fics have been stated at the top of the page. You can check out the other entries and vote at their Tumblr page @theofficialmakoharufestival. Credits for the cover page go to the lovely @racyue!
1. Day 1: Valentine's Day

Makoto normally never made any plans for Valentine's Day, being single and all, but his younger siblings had other ideas. Still, participating in a reality game show was the last thing he would've imagined doing.

In accordance with the occasion, the show was having a special 'blind date' edition where participants would be paired up with a stranger of the opposite gender. Makoto's partner seemed nice enough, but her initial cheery demeanor and playful banter soon turned to incessant rants about another female contestant who apparently was a rival in the office.

Makoto wasn't too disappointed though. He was too distracted by the rival's dark-haired 'blind date' to be offended.

The first round began with all eight pairs on a revolving carousel. Although they were spinning around at a rather moderate pace, nearly all the contestants were rather reluctant to leave the starting point. Makoto was one of the first to take that first step onto the walkway beside and had a few moments to register that the male participant from before was right behind him before having to concentrate on not getting knocked off the walkway by swinging battering rams. He'd just made it to the end of the walkway when he heard a splash behind him and turned to see that the other had been knocked into the pool below the walkway. However, he watched in amazement as the fallen man began to swim for the starting end of the walkway without a moment's hesitation, looking as if he'd learned to swim freestyle before he could even walk. It wasn't until he'd climbed back up onto the walkway to try crossing again that Makoto remembered he had an obstacle course to finish and hurriedly jumped onto a platform rocking side to side, only to miss and fall into the water himself.

Before long, four teams had been eliminated and four others proceeded to the second round. Luckily only one half of a team was required to complete the round successfully for them to advance, for Makoto's partner never got past the rocking platform and Haruka's was still stranded at the starting point. The two of them had had time to exchange names after finishing the obstacle course close on each other's heels and had just discovered they'd both swum for their school teams in high school when the host brought over their partners. While Makoto's teammate was smiling for the cameras and gushing to the host about how she was so lucky to have been paired up with such a cool guy, Haruka left his partner to glare daggers in peace and went to stand beside Makoto. "Think we can get away with purposely eliminating ourselves in the next round?"

Makoto chuckled. "I suppose your 'date' has already had enough of the game?"

Haruka stared pointedly at him. "I didn't mean her, I was talking about you. I'm not patient enough to wait until the end of the show so I can talk to you again."

Before Makoto could do more than blink in surprise, the host was already herding them towards the next part of the game. Here Haruka's plan was unfortunately rendered useless, as it was only a bonus round where the best team got an extra sum of money added to the grand prize should they win in the finals. The course was a pool of green slime which the female of each team was required to wade across, with the one who advanced the farthest as the winner. If there was a tie, the male was required to go next and both partner's distances would be added up to judge the highest score.

As Haruka's 'date' squealed her disgust all the way while steadily sinking into the slime as she tried to move forward, Makoto remarked, "That slime does look rather sticky."

Haruka only replied with a mild "Yeah" and Makoto berated himself for making such a stupid comment. Then, "So how did you end up in this show?"

"My younger siblings Ran and Ren signed me up. I didn't even know until the studio contacted me. They insisted they wanted their big brother to 'go out and do something on Valentine's'." Makoto smiled at the memory. "What about you?"

"Rin sent in an application in my name. Said it would be hilarious to watch me make a fool of myself on TV."

Makoto laughed lightly. "She sounds like she has a strange sense of humor."

"Rin's a guy."

"Oh."

"It's a common mistake. Same goes for me too." Haruka shrugged. "Judging from your name, I suppose you've had similar experiences before?"

"Yeah. Apparently girly names are another thing we have in common." Makoto felt a strange thrill at the sound of Haruka's chuckle, just as his partner lost her balance and fell face first into the slime.

With the start of the third round, everyone found themselves at one end of a flying fox contraption with the landing point a good two-thirds of the way down. One of the other couples, who apparently had built up quite a good rapport going between them, decided to take off first, only for one to end up suspended in mid-air as her momentum ran out while her partner shot straight past the landing point like a bullet and crashed into the cushioned wall at the end of the line. As he dropped into the water, the two workplace rivals set aside their differences and unanimously declared that they would prefer staying at the starting line, thank you very much.

That was it, then. The current round required both partners to complete the course in order to go on to the finals. Makoto was watching the other couple land safely on the landing point when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Oi Makoto, give me a hand."

He raised an eyebrow as Haruka grabbed one of the handlebars. "You still want to continue?"

"It beats standing around here waiting for the other two teams to finish so we can go home. If you push me, I'll catch you before you pass the landing point."

Makoto shrugged. Might as well anyway. As he put his hands on both sides of Haruka's waist, he suddenly thought about how firm the other's muscles were. To put off that weird thought, he began with a running start before applying force and letting go as Haruka sailed away from the edge of the starting platform. Makoto waited until he'd landed safely before pushing himself off as well.

As the landing point grew closer and closer, Makoto saw Haruka spread his arms out wide. Being he shorter of the two, the only way the blue-eyed young man could hope to catch his new partner was to envelope him in a bear hug. A thousand thoughts popped up in Makoto's mind as he flew into Haruka's embrace. His feet touched the ground and he stood there dazed for a while, but Haruka was already tugging insistently on his elbow as he led them towards the next obstacle.

They made it through heavy cascades of water from above and rapidly rotating platforms before they were confronted with a huge tub filled with soap suds that tilted back and forth. If they could jump into the tub successfully and then jump onto the finishing point at the other end, they would've completed the course.

Haruka took one look at the heart shapes on the sides of the tub and scoffed. "What's this, the Bubble Bath of Love?"

For some reason, the remark coupled with the sight of a guy who he'd never even met until two hours ago dripping water from his hair, wearing a look of disdain on his face and looking utterly beautiful caused Makoto to burst out into laughter. "Well let's go for it!" he cried as he pulled Haruka's hand and leaped into the foam.

Their legs immediately gave way under them as the tub tilted forward. Makoto went under and came up spurting out soap suds all over Haruka's hair. "Sorry," he grinned guiltily.

Haruka simply looked away. "Never mind," he grunted, although Makoto could've sworn he was blushing. Then the tub tilted backwards, and Haruka came sliding into his arms.

The tub seemed intent on mocking them both as it went back and forth, sloshing its two occupants around its slippery contents. In an attempt to steady himself, Haruka put his arms around Makoto and held on tightly to his back. Makoto didn't hesitate to do the same.

"Not too bad for a blind date, huh?" he said in Haruka's ear.

The smaller man tightened his hold on Makoto's shoulder blades. "Let's just get off this damn tub."

"Agreed." Makoto maneuvered Haruka to face the front, then, "One, two, jump!" and they leapt off the tub, sliding across the finish line with a trail of soap suds behind them.

Makoto got to his knees and glanced down at Haruka, who was wearing a headdress of bubbles. "You said something about getting home early before?"

"The sooner the better," Haruka affirmed as he accepted the hand up.

**Fun fact: I actually watched that episode of _Wipeout USA_ that inspired this fic last Christmas, not during Valentine's. Apparently my local TV station thought it made for a good Christmas morning special program. Go figure.**

**Also, the title came from an early draft I had of this fic where I included the name of the game show. Not very original, I know (ahaha… ha.) **


	2. Day 2: Shooting Stars

"Go on, do it."

"This is silly."

"No, it's fine. Just close your eyes."

Haruka sighed. "Fine." His eyelids closed and he took a deep breath. "One. Two."

With total darkness in front of him, his other senses were heightened. He could hear the soft murmurs of the people surrounding them, smell the fresh scent of spring grass, and feel Makoto's fingers gently rubbing against his palms.

"Three. Four."

They were leaving the round now – he could feel the shift in the surface below his feet. He suddenly had a fleeting moment of worry that the wicker basket they were in would not be strong enough to withstand the weight of its passengers, and his brow furrowed.

"It's okay, it's okay. Keep counting."

"Five. Six. Seven. Eight."

He could picture the ground falling further away from them with every passing second. Strangely, he no longer felt anxious as they gained altitude; on the contrary, it was as if a burden on his shoulders had been lifted off. His eyelids grew heavy as his breathing evened.

"Nine. Ten."

Haruka opened his eyes to the sight of the sun sinking behind the hills in the distance. He looked down at the people milling about below on the field, now no bigger than ants.

"Nice up here, isn't it?"

Haruka shrugged. "I prefer being in water."

Makoto's light laugh rang in his ears. "Of course you do. Still, don't you think being in the air feels a lot like swimming? You're just suddenly… weightless."

"The force of gravity hasn't disappeared yet, you know." Still, Haruka agreed with Makoto's observation. Right now he felt like his tether to the earth had been cut and he could just float up into space.

"Haru-chan." Haruka turned to look into Makoto's emerald eyes just as the burner above them roared to life. The leaping flames painted shadows on the people below as the warm spring air around them grew even hotter, and a bead of sweat ran down Haruka's cheek.

"Sure wish it would rain to cool everything off a bit," he said without further thinking.

"But that would mean the hot-air balloon can't continue flying, and we'd have to go back down. Besides, this definitely has the best view." Makoto pointed to the already dark sky, just as a firework shot upwards and exploded in mid-air, raining blue sparks on everything below.

"Look Haru-chan, it's your favorite colour."

"My favorite colour's green."

"Eh? I thought it was blue."

"Your eyes aren't blue." Said eyes widened, and Haruka looked away quickly as a blush crept over his cheeks. He had no idea why he'd blurted that out.

"Haru." Something in his voice made Haruka turn back to face him. Makoto was smiling gently at him. "I'm really happy to be here with you today."

"Yeah… well, don't get too used to it. I usually don't go out much after dark."

"I know. Your training schedule requires you to wake up early after all." Makoto cast his eyes down at the twinkling lights of the city below. "Every time I come to see you at practice, I always think how Haru-chan looks so beautiful working so hard. It's like you have this shining aura around you, whether you're in the water or out of it."

"Hey." Haruka nudged Makoto's arm with his shoulders causing the other to look back at him. "You shine just as bright. You're top of your class, and when you graduate you'll be an amazing instructor, helping kids let their potential shine in the pool as well. So… keep doing your best."

Makoto's face broke out in a brilliant smile. "Thank you." Then, "I love you, Haru."

"I know." It was all Haruka could think to say. His face burned. "I mean, I… I feel the same way about you."

"That makes me glad." There was silence for a moment, then Makoto pointed at the other multi-colored balloons scattered around them. "They look like stars, don't they?"

"Really big stars."

"Shooting stars. We can pretend they're shooting stars! What would you wish for, Haru-chan?"

"Nothing. I already have all I need." He reached for Makoto's hand, holding it tightly, and smiled as Makoto squeezed his palm in return. Maybe it was just him, but the night seemed a little brighter, like a light had been turned on.

**I had Owl City's Shooting Star on repeat when I was writing this, because inspiration duh. Strongly recommend listening to the song when reading too!**


	3. Day 3: Prove It

Makoto blinked twice in confusion. "What?"

"You say you're a – a 'mage', or whatever. So prove it to me, or else…" The raven-haired boy in front of him held out his palm, and a bubble of water formed and grew larger.

"Water magic." Makoto couldn't help himself. "You're an elementalist!"

"Shut up!" The bubble of water in the boy's palm quivered violently. It was now roughly the size of a watermelon. "Once this water envelopes your entire head, nobody will be able to hear your screams, and screaming would only deplete the amount of oxygen in your lungs anyway. Your death would be all the quicker."

Makoto gulped. "Okay, okay, but what do you want me to do?"

"Something. Anything. Whatever magic you have, use it. Give me a reason to not drown you right where you stand." _Give me a reason to believe you. Show me it's safe to trust you. Show me I'm not alone._ That was what Makoto heard behind the threat.

Looking into the boy's sapphire eyes, he saw wariness, disbelief – and a glimmer of hope. "Okay." He brought his palms together, and a little seed appeared and began to sprout rapidly. Soon it grew leaves and a small red flower bloomed on the top.

The water splashed uselessly to the ground, forgotten by the person who conjured it as he reached out a hand and stroked the flower's petals tentatively. "How did you do that?"

"I draw the energy in the air and use it to create a seed. Then I make it sprout and grow with my magic. I'm only a kid though, so I can't sustain it for very long." Even as he spoke, a leaf on the plant started to wither.

The boy held out his hand over the plant, and a few drops of water fell from his fingertips onto its leaves. The plant seemed to stand up a little straighter, and the withered leaf regained some of its colour. "It looks better now."

"Water nourishes plants. It's better when I grow them directly from the soil, because they can draw their nutrients from the earth. I only learned this two weeks ago."

"I've never seen that flower before."

"It's a hibiscus. It's a tropical flower, so it isn't native to our climates, but it's in the greenhouse at school."

"School?"

"Yeah. We learn normal subjects like math and English there, but we also learn how to develop and control our powers. Everyone has different abilities of course, but we all learn something from each other, and our teachers do their best to help us in any way we can."

"Are there any… 'elementalists' like me there?"

"Hmm." Makoto scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Not that I know of. Elementalists aren't very common, but they're some of the most powerful mages in the world."

"I don't want to be powerful." The boy ran a hand gently along the plant's leaves. "I'd rather have magic like yours, and make things grow."

"All living things need water to live. If you came to school, you can learn to use your magic to do amazing things."

The boy looked up. "I can? I've never been to school before. I… I've lived on the streets all my life, taking care of myself. I've also… done a few things I probably shouldn't have. I make people give me their stuff, and they usually do because nobody here has powers like me. When they try to hurt me though, I… silence them and leave them behind. There's always a body around here somewhere anyway."

"Don't your parents look after you?"

"I don't have parents."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Then, "Come with me. You can live in the school dorms, or… or we could ask my parents! I'm sure they won't mind taking you in. There's three of us kids at home, but we'll all fit in. You can share my room if you like!"

Makoto paused for a moment to see the boy stared wide-eyed at him. "Oh yeah, what's your name?"

"Ha – haru…"

"Haru?"

"…ka."

"Oh, you're named Haruka?"

"I – I know it's a girly name. But then yours isn't any better," Haruka said self-defensively.

"It's okay, it's a good name. Then let's go, Haru-chan!" Makoto reached for Haruka's hand.

"Don't call me – what's wrong?" Makoto had suddenly paused in his footsteps. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Oh… I can't find my way back home. It's how I wound up here in the first place." Makoto grinned sheepishly.

Haruka sighed. "Down the road in front there's a boarded-up shop on a corner. Turn left there and you'll find a bus stop." He hesitated. "I don't have money for the bus."

"I have enough for both of us. Now come on!" And the two boys ran out of the dark alley into the sunlight.

**Makoto and Haruka's magic powers were somewhat inspired by racyue's nature spirit AU - and also my interpretation of what elements they would be. Avatard game too strong, ahaha.**


	4. Day 4: You're Mistaken

The first note that was dropped into Haruka's locker read _You look very beautiful today._

He'd furrowed his brow when he read it. The girls in his class received love notes sometimes, but him? He concluded that it must either have been a practical joke or an accidental delivery, and tossed it into a corner of his locker.

The next day it was, _Good morning! Hope you have a great day!_

And the next,_ Your sketches are amazing! Keep going!_

By this time, Haruka had ruled out the possibility of it being a prank – surely no mischief-maker would mention something as obscure as _artwork_. He began to suspect that the sender must've mistaken his locker for the girl to his left's. She was rather good at art; he'd seen her work put up on the bulletin board next to his. So the next day he got to school earlier and hid at the end of the hallway to find out whom the secret admirer was.

As the first trickles of what would soon become a swarming horde of students threaded through the corridor, Haruka saw the boy who sat next to him in class walk up to his locker, look around to see if anyone was watching, then slip a piece of paper through the slot at the bottom and hurry away. He mainly recognized him by sight, for they'd never talked before. The boy was always listening attentively to the teacher whenever he looked towards him, and he himself spent half his time in school staring out the window. He didn't even know the boy's name.

That afternoon, Haruka glanced over at the boy during art class to see him struggling with a block of wood and a carving knife. He peeked at the notebook on his desk and made a mental note of the name written on the cover – Tachibana Makoto.

"Need some help with that?"

Makoto looked up – and seemed to almost fall out of his chair at the sight of Haruka standing right beside his desk. "Oh, yes please!"

Haruka spent that period with his chair pulled up to Makoto's desk, patiently instructing him and sometimes putting down his own carving to guide Makoto's hand. Remembering the message he'd retrieved that morning after Makoto had left – "You must have a dazzling smile! So don't forget to smile more!" – he tried to keep the corners of his mouth tilted upwards whenever Makoto looked his way, and was almost blinded by the beaming grins he got in return.

The next morning, Haruka had decided he could get used to this smiling thing. He smiled again as he read the day's note:_ I love watching your hands work, they're really mesmerizing! _Then he entered the classroom – and felt the corners of his mouth droop at the sight of Makoto chatting happily with none other than the girl whose locker was to his left.

She sat on Makoto's other side, he realized. While Haruka was working on his own carving, he must've been watching her work – and probably would've done so more easily if Haruka hadn't kept butting in with his tiresome instructions. Haruka was silent as he took his seat, completely missing Makoto's greeting as he walked past his desk, and did not look at him for the entire day. He still kept the not he'd gotten though, along with all the others he'd received, even the first one which he'd recovered from the depths of his locker.

After school, Haruka drowned his sullen mood in the school pool, which was rarely used by the rest f the student body and so was the ideal place for him to swim his stress out. He only got out of the water when the sun began setting. As he walked home, his wet hair tousled about by the wind, he caught snatches of conversation ahead of him and looked up to see the object of Makoto's affection with a friend.

"So he couldn't go to the cinema with you?"

"Yeah." The girl had dejection written all over her face. "I know he can't help being sick, but still… I'd been looking forward to it since yesterday, and then his classmate came over and told me of his absence right before class started."

"Well, you could've still gone with someone else. What about Tachibana-kun? He was talking to you this morning."

"He's just my lab partner. The only boy I'm interested in is Shinji-kun," she bemoaned.

Haruka 's mind was whirring the rest of the way home. Makoto liked the girl, but she liked someone else. She only thought of him as a classmate, yet she didn't know of his feelings for her because she never received his notes. And when he realized that his efforts had been in vain… Haruka pictured the beaming grin of his, then turned it upside-down in his mind. It wasn't a pretty sight at all.

The next day's note said _You seemed a little down yesterday. Are you okay?_ That was when Haruka decided to take action. When the last bell rang, he melded into the crowd of students thronging the hallway and slipped a note into Makoto's locker before anybody noticed. _I was a bit upset, but I'm fine now. Thanks for your concern._

After that, it was a series of messages going back and forth:

_You're welcome! But how did you know it was me?_

_I saw you drop a note into my locker one morning. Don't worry, you can keep writing to me if you want._

_Thanks. I'm a little shy, so writing gives me the courage to express what I want to say. I'm happy you don't mind._

_It's okay, I understand how you feel. We never have much time to talk in class anyway, so this way I can get to know you better._

As the correspondence continued, Haruka carefully scrutinized every interaction between Makoto and his crush in class, but Makoto seemed to behave as usual when with her. On the other hand though, he'd taken to asking Haruka to go through whatever the teacher had just taught them with him, and those little sessions between periods soon stretched out into lunch breaks together, with Haruka bringing his lunch over to Makoto's desk and pulling up a chair. He probably hadn't eaten anything other than mackerel ever since his parents moved and he started living alone, until Makoto began sharing his bentou prepared by his mother.

"So you've learned swimming as a kid?" Haruka asked as he bit on one of Mrs Tachibana's egg rolls.

"Yeah, though I haven't swum much ever since the community pool closed down. I guess I could swim in the ocean, but I've always been uncomfortable doing that since I was little."

"Huh." Haruka gulped down the egg roll and helped himself to another. "You know, our school actually has a pool as well."

Makoto almost dropped his chopsticks. "You're _kidding_?!"

"It's true. Right on the top of the west wing, where all the abandoned classrooms are. Only nobody uses it these days, so not many people know about it. It's pretty quiet, great if you want privacy." Haruka chewed on the second egg roll, oblivious to Makoto's thoughtful expression.

The next day he found a bomb in his locker. _Meet me at the school pool after classes. I want to talk to you._

All day he noticed Makoto staring at the blackboard with a vacant expression, his mind seemingly occupied with other things. _He must be too excited about the meeting after school to pay attention, _Haruka thought. _I wonder what made him suddenly gain the courage to finally talk to her. And on top of it all I'm the one who told him the pool was a good place for privacy! How am I ever supposed to use the place if they keep meeting there from now on? Only they won't, because she doesn't even know! _Amidst his worries, he forgot the small detail that Makoto hadn't included directions to the little-known school pool in his note.

That afternoon was the first time Haruka had to drag himself to the pool. He hadn't been able to see any other alternative but to go there himself, give up the ruse, and possibly lose the first close friend he ever had. Clutching his collection of notes, he made his way to his destination with heavy footsteps. _Makoto must think I'm just there to swim when he first sees me. _He did not want to imagine what his reaction would be when he found out the truth.

When he arrived, he could see nobody there at first. Then he saw a figure cutting through the water's surface from the other end of the pool. As the figure approached, he realized it was Makoto swimming backstroke, pulling himself along the length of the pool with powerful arms. For someone who hadn't swum in a long time, he seemed to have retained much of his skill.

Makoto reached the end of the pool, stood up and saw Haruka. "Haru! Hold on a minute, I'll be – wait, why are you holding those?" His eyes had fallen on the notes in Haruka's hand, and his face seemed to pale as he recognized them.

"I made a mistake." Haruka held out the notes. "I was wrong to accept these. I was never supposed to, yet I did. I regret that now."

"Haru…"

"I know I'm not her," he pushed on, "but I still answered your messages in her place. She likes someone else; she only thinks of you as her lab partner, nothing more, but you don't know that because you thought she'd gotten your notes, when all along you've been putting them in my locker, but - "

"Haru, what are you talking about?"

"Huh?" He looked up and saw his confusion mirrored in Makoto's face. "You… don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Not a single thing! I never meant to send those notes to some girl, I wanted to send them to you!"

Haruka did not know what to make of this sudden turn of events. "You… sent love notes to me?"

Makoto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Did they sound like love notes? I tried to be vague, because I wasn't sure what you would think of having a male secret admirer."

"A secret – then why were you so shocked to see me holding them?"

"I thought you brought them here to return them after you rejected me. Your first words kinda gave me the impression that you were refusing my feelings."

Haruka's head was spinning. All this time he'd been thinking Makoto fancied a girl, when _he _was the subject of his crush?! As the notes flapped uselessly to the ground, he looked up and saw the one thing that always calmed him down: water.

"Haru, why are you stripping?! Haru – AAH!"

Makoto got a torrent of water to the face. When he'd wiped his eyes clear, he found Haruka standing in front of him, his blue eyes trained on Makoto's green ones.

"I get it now. I did make a mistake."

"You – you did?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to fix it." Haruka paused before continuing. "That… thank you for the notes. I kept all of them."

"You did?"

"Didn't you keep mine?"

"Uh – yeah…"

"Then that's that." Haruka tentatively wrapped his fingers around Makoto's hand underwater. "I feel so foolish, worrying over your liking someone else when it was me all along."

"So… does that mean you do like me back?"

"Well, your notes were quite persuasive." Haruka took a step closer. "I guess this means I won't be finding another note in my locker tomorrow?"

A smile slowly spread across Makoto's face. "I could tell you my message now, if you want." He beckoned for Haruka to lean in closer, then whispered in his ear.

Haruka's response was to dive into the water, and Makoto barely had time to take a breath before he was pulled down as well. In the water, just before his lips were covered by another pair, he could clearly see Haruka's mouth form the words – _I love you too._


	5. Day 5: Cold Sweater Weather

**THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT HAS AN NSFW RATING. THOU HAST BEEN FOREWARNED.**

Makoto still remembered the year Haruka's grandmother made a slight miscalculation when measuring out the wool she'd need to make him a sweater.

Okay, so it was a big miscalculation. As in 'double the amount needed' big, which was how Haruka ended up wearing a small tent the next day.

Nagisa had collapsed on the ground laughing, but Haruka simply looked at Makoto. Two minutes later the two of them were bundled up in the sweater, their arms sticking out comfortably through the baggy sleeves, two to a side. It was a bit difficult walking, but they worked out that if they both stepped with the same foot on one side first, then the other, they could get around pretty well. They could do no more than sit on the swings, Haruka seated on Makoto's lap, but they were content to stay like that all day while Nagisa built large piles of autumn leaves and jumped into them. He even convinced them to try as well, but they went down with a crash and couldn't get up afterward. Nagisa had been howling with hilarity as he helped them up.

Nagisa wasn't here though, and Makoto had no idea what his reaction would be like if he was. Then again, Makoto felt like he didn't have enough brain cells left to think about anything else other than what Haruka was doing on his chest.

He'd showered at Haruka's place after school, for they were going to do homework together that afternoon. When he was putting on the clothes Haruka had laid out for him though (for he always kept a change of clothes at Haruka's house) he noticed he'd been given the double-size sweater, which was more like a loose shirt on his eighteen-year-old frame. He wore it without question, then laid out on the floor for a quick snooze while Haruka took his bath. However, he'd woken up when he felt a strange wet feeling on his left nipple, and looked down to see Haruka's hair poking out of the sweater's collar. To top it all off, Haruka was wearing absolutely nothing, so his bare legs stuck out of the other end of the sweater, and his naked thighs rubbed directly against Makoto's clothed member.

"Ha-haru, aren't you cold?"

"I am, that's why I'm sharing your sweater," came the muffled reply as the wet licking sensation shifted to his right nipple. The sweater had been able to fit two fifth-graders comfortably, but not two highschoolers, and he could feel Haruka's bare chest pressed tightly against his own, skin rubbing against skin. The very idea of it was enough to send the blood rushing to his thighs.

"Your lower half seems pretty excited."

Damn, now Haruka knew it too.

"Want me to move down and take care of it?"

"Wha – no thank you!" God, this was mortifying. Makoto's arms hung limply at his sides as Haruka traced circles around one nipple with his tongue while his hand fondled the other.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"Your – your grandmother…" Makoto felt as if he was tainting the old woman's memory by thinking of her at a time like this.

Haruka had poked his head out from underneath the sweater. "Don't worry, she won't mind her sweater being put to this use," he reassured him before leaning forward and pressing their lips together, biting softly on Makoto's lip and slipping his tongue in through the space between the other's teeth.

"You know, your pants are getting _really _tight below," Haruka observed when they finally broke apart.

"I – I'm well aware of that."

"It's okay," Haruka said in a whisper. "We're both in the same boat." He rubbed his groin against Makoto's, and green eyes widened at the bulge he felt through the clothing.

"What's gotten into you today?" he managed to get out.

Haruka shrugged. "Just that time of year."

Of course. Haruka was always… friskier when the cold seasons approached and swim club activities were suspended, and Makoto was his favorite way of relieving his stress from not being able to go into the water.

"Though to be honest, you in that sweater makes quite a turn on as well." Haruka started rocking his hips rhythmically, and as Makoto's member grew harder, he silently decided that he liked cold weather just fine.


	6. Day 6: Don't Let Go

On the first day of kindergarten, Yamazaki Shouta strode into the building as if she owned the place, flashing her shark-tooth grin at her new schoolmates; Ryugazaki Mizuki pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he bid farewell to his parents and his little sister at the school gate; Mikoshiba Chiaki hung shyly about at the edge of a group of happily chatting girls as they walked into the school compound.

And Tachibana Kiku held on to her mother's hand as both stared stoutly at her father.

"Now now Kiku, you know you have to go to kindergarten alone," Makoto said in a persuading tone.

"Then I won't go." Kiku had her father's eyes, but in all other aspects she looked exactly like her mother, down to the stubborn set of her jaw as she refused to comply.

Makoto turned to his wife. "Haru-chan, you know you can't hold Kiku back from attending preschool."

"Drop the –chan," Haruka deadpanned. "Kiku can always be homeschooled."

Makoto sighed in exasperation. "Kiku, don't you want to go to school with Mizuki-kun and Chiaki-kun?"

"They're annoying," Kiku stated.

"That what about Shouta-chan? She's your best friend."

"She's annoying too." Kiku looked away as she said that though.

"Kiku! Hey Kiku!" Shouta came bounding towards them, her red hair flying. She skidded to a halt right before she collided into them, her aqua eyes sparkling. "I've got you a seat next to me in class, right at the front! There's also an aquarium with all sorts of cool fish, and a set of crayons that comes in 48 colours!"

"48 colours?" Kiku's eyebrows perked up in interest.

"Yeah, but we gotta get to them fast, otherwise they'll be taken! I'll go grab them first!" And Shouta dashed off again without waiting for a reply.

Kiku looked up at her mother uncertainly, then at her hand wrapped around her mother's wrist. Haruka immediately squatted down so she was eye to eye with her daughter. "Those crayons sound fun."

Kiku fidgeted a little. "You'll be here when school ends, right Mom?"

"Right."

The little girl threw her arms around her mother. "I love you."

"Me too." Haruka then put her mouth to Kiku's ear. "I'll never let go."

Kiku's face brightened. "I won't either." She then ran in through the gates, waving to her parents over her shoulder.

Makoto stepped towards his wife as she stood up. "Did you watch _Titanic _with Kiku again yesterday?"

"She said it would help her feel less nervous." The two of them had wondered before why their young daughter's favorite movie would be a three-hour long tale of tragedy and sinking ships, but once Haruka decided it must be the water they'd left it at that, though Makoto suspected that she had an natural inclination for the romantic like her Aunt Rin.

And speaking of Rin, "Her third child already. You would've thought Rin would be used to it by now," Haruka remarked as she looked over to where Sousuke had an arm around his tearful wife.

"Shouta's her only daughter. It makes sense she'd be more attached this time."

"She's closer to the boys though. Shouta's more of a daddy's girl."

"Yup, and Sou-chan's a total daughter's dad," Nagisa piped up as she and Rei made their way towards the Tachibanas. She nodded in the direction of Rin, who was now laughing through her tears as she wiped her husband's watery eyes clean.

"Looks like he caught the sentimental bug from my sister," Gou grinned as she popped up beside Nagisa. "Seijuurou's still shouting encouragement to Chiaki through the gates. I don't even want to imagine what Momo'll do next year."

"Oh yeah, Misaki-chan's starting next year with Kaoru-chan, right?" Makoto smiled down at the little girl clinging to Nagisa's legs, who smiled shyly in return and nodded.

"Don't worry, Ai-chan will keep him in check." Nagisa ruffled her daughter's blue hair. "Kaoru, you said you wanted to go to Aunty Haru's cafe and eat strawberry cake just now?"

"Yeah!"

"Aren't you the one who wanted to eat cake?"  
"Geez Rei-chan, I gotta keep up appearances as an adult."

"I wonder why you even try."

"Oh come on Rei, isn't that why you married her?"

"Haruka-senpai!"

"Plus, I seem to recall you have a preference for strawberry cake as well."

"What's all this talk of strawberry cake?" Rin had joined their group with Sousuke. "I'd come along, except I don't want my hair ornamented with pastry like last time."

"It was an accident," Haruka stated flatly.

"Well, you're not convincing anyone with that tone. Gou, Seijuurou's looking for you."

"Oh, thank you! Sorry I can't join you guys."

"There's always next time. Come along then, it's all on me. You know, to celebrate the littlest brat's entry into the education system."

Nagisa giggled. "You and Sou-chan cried a waterfall between yourselves for the 'brat' just now."

"None of your cheek Hazuki, you weren't any better yourself. That butterfly-patterned handkerchief of your husband's must've been soaked through."

"Ah, but most of that was Rei-chan's fault."

"Nagisa-kun!"

"Hey Ryugazaki, do you call her '-kun' when in bed as well?"

"Not you too, Yamazaki-senpai!"

As the banter carried on while they walked, Haruka gazed at each of her friends' faces in turn. They'd been through so much together, she knew they would always remain in her thoughts no matter where they were. Her eyes settled on Makoto's face as he turned to look at her, and without thinking their hands found each other. He was smiling that tender smile of his. "Never let go of me too, please?"

"Not in a million years." Haruka squeezed his hand as they went after the others.


	7. Day 7: 7 Sins

**THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT HAS AN NSFW RATING. THOU HAST BEEN FOREWARNED.**

"Now tell me: what's your first crime?"

Makoto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The vibrator inside him was pressed up right against his prostate, and his hands struggled in vain to free themselves from their bonds. "Uh… I turned the heater off yesterday after my shower, forgetting that you still hadn't taken yours."

"And what should your punishment be?" Haruka tapped the side of his bare leg lightly with the cane he was holding in one hand. His other held the remote for the vibrator.

"Um… ten lashes of the cane." Makoto was following the cane's movements with his eyes in an attempt to distract himself from the pressure building up in his lower half.

"Very well. Your second charge?"

"I got you canned mackerel at the supermarket on Tuesday instead of packaged ones."

"Canned mackerel is always inferior in taste," Haruka agreed. "Your punishment?"

"Er… ten more lashes?"

"Fine. You asked for it, after all. Next time though, be a little more creative. Go on."

Makoto next recalled how he'd forgotten to call Haruka during lunch earlier that day when he said he would, put too much sugar in the curry they had for dinner the day before, and accidentally left the windows open so that a stray cat entered and took a nap in an oversized wooden shoe Rin had gotten them when he went to the Netherlands with his Australian foster parents and Sousuke on vacation, though Haruka never really liked the ornament. By offense number six though he'd run out of ideas, and even Haruka turning up the vibrator to its highest setting did nothing to stimulate his brain, though his nether regions were stimulated well enough.

Finally he managed to gasp out between moans, "I… I came before you last night."

Haruka hummed. "That does make a severe offense. I was using nipple clamps on you yesterday, but that still doesn't excuse what you've done."

Makoto begged to differ. Haruka knew perfectly well his nipples were highly erogenous. Still, he nodded along obediently, in the hope that his torment would end soon and he would be allowed to come.

"So how should you be punished for this offense?"

"I – I don't know, master." Haruka liked it when he was called 'master' during their roleplay.

"Then I propose using the nipple clamps again, so the punishment fits the crime. In fact, I'll execute it now." Haruka produced the clamps from a bedside drawer, then left the room and came back with a pail of ice. He picked up a cube and pressed it to one nipple, drawing circles around the pink bud with it. When the nipple was already hard and stiff, he used the same treatment on the other, then fastened the metal clamps. He then flicked the taut wire between the clamps repeatedly, eliciting gasps and moans from Makoto.

"I still need a seventh crime."  
The clamps were the last straw. "I'm a greedy naughty boy who wants to be filled by your cock inside him, and get spanked and caned, and be allowed to come again and again. Please, master," Makoto pleaded.

Haruka's fingers wrapped around the end of his chin and tilted his head so that their eyes met. "Do you really want to come that badly?"

"Yes! Please!"

"Well – since you asked so nicely. You've already confessed your seven sins anyway. Now is the time for penance." Haruka straightened and took out a length of cloth, blindfolding Makoto before tying a ring gag around his mouth. "Kneel," he commanded, and when Makoto obeyed he pulled out the vibrator. Makoto's insides felt empty instantly, until he was told to bend over and a dildo was inserted in him, stretching his perineum to its limit.

"That's three, four and five done. Now for the twenty lashes." Haruka tapped the end of the cane against Makoto's ass lightly, and his member twitched in anticipation. "Don't forget to count," he reminded him, even though he could barely speak with the ring gag on, "and feel free to moan all you like." After that, there was nothing left to do but wait for what seemed like an eternity before the cane came whistling down.


	8. Day 8: Delayed Train

**THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT HAS AN NSFW RATING. THOU HAST BEEN FOREWARNED.**

Ten minutes. The normally impeccably on-schedule bullet train would be delayed by ten whole minutes.

Haruka had begun to nod off even before the announcement over the loudspeaker – apparently there was a minor mechanical error that needed to be fixed – had faded away. Usually he would've started snoozing as soon as the train doors closed, either sitting or standing while holding on to the hand rails, with Makoto's shoulder on a pillow. That was pretty much the only part Makoto played in Haruka's life now – being his portable headrest.

They'd shared an apartment ever since they moved to Tokyo, but in the past few months they'd barely seen each other's faces. Haruka often had to get up before the sun rose, and leave for practice while Makoto was still asleep. At night, he would be so exhausted he'd hit the hay as soon as he walked in through the front door, without even changing his clothes. He'd showered before leaving the pool anyway. On the other hand, Makoto would stay up late studying, only heading to bed long after Haruka had conked out.

They were both at an important stage in achieving their ambitions – Makoto was in his final year of university, while Haruka was training for the impeding national youth Olympic swim team tryouts. However, while their dreams were getting closer, they were drifting further apart. If Makoto hadn't maintained getting home on the same train as Haruka, they would probably never spend a waking moment together. Even this way those waking moments were limited though, as Haruka always dozed on the train and made the journey from the train station to the apartment in a half-asleep state.

Nine minutes. Haruka thought he would've been asleep by now, but strangely he was still wakeful. Either he couldn't nap without the soothing vibrations of the train, or he'd finally worked himself to the point of exhaustion where he was too tired to even fall asleep. It took him a few moments to register Makoto's fingers slowly stroking his hair, and he glanced up to see Makoto's tender green eyes peering down at him. He briefly wondered why Makoto didn't start up a conversation, like asking him how his day went or whether he was making any progress with his training, before realizing he probably looked too tired to say anything. He could get out a few words though. "My shoulder…"

One of the best things about Makoto was how he could understand what Haruka meant with only a few words, or even none at all. As Haruka's eyelids fell shut, he could feel strong gentle hands move from his scalp to right where his shoulder blades met. The ache in there disappeared so instantaneously a sigh of contentment fell from his lips, his sluggish mind reveling in the pleasant sensation before noticing the other rather different sensation building up in his groin.

Haruka's eyes fluttered open immediately. Luckily they were standing at the back of the crowd waiting for the train, and everybody else was too preoccupied with staring at their watches and counting down the minutes till it arrived to pay them any attention. He was the only one who knew of his arousal by a shoulder massage.

"Haru, are you – are you _hard_?"

Oh, so now Makoto knew as well.

Haruka rolled his eyes up towards Makoto's face. "Have you been peering at my crotch?" he asked bluntly.

Makoto's face went red. "Oh… well… the angle you were leaning against me…"

Haruka couldn't help chuckling, tired as he was. "I understand. It's been two whole months since we touched each other, hasn't it?"

"Yea – yeah…"

Haruka glanced at the train station clock. Seven minutes. "We could do a quickie."

"Haru! I can't grope you in public!"

"There's a big crowd as cover, and nobody's looking over anyway." Haruka shifted his hips against Makoto. "You're having quite a bit of a problem down there yourself." He moved one of the hands on his shoulders down to between his legs, then took the other and put it to his lips.

"Haru…" Makoto's protest came out sounding rather weak, probably because Haruka was sucking at his fingers. His other hand automatically started pumping Haruka's member, running firm strokes along the length through the cloth of his pants and rubbing the tip. He dipped his head down and marked a trail along Haruka's exposed neck with his tongue, then gently bit just under his left ear.

Haruka shivered from the pleasure and tried to return the favor by reaching for Makoto's manhood, but he soon found out that backhanded handjobs were hard to pull off. He had to settle for lavishing Makoto's fingers with his mouth, gently nipping at them before licking them one by one. He was slowly losing focus though, as every stroke of Makoto's hand brought him closer to the edge.

Two minutes now. Haruka's hips were now moving on their own against Makoto's crotch, where he could feel the bulge there getting harder. He himself felt as if an iron bar was stuffed down his swimming trunks (he still had them on) and he began jerking into Makoto's hand to achieve climax. The train pulled into the station just as he came, its high-pitched whistle drowning out his soft cry of ecstasy.

Immediately after his release, his knees went limp and he would've crumpled to the ground if Makoto hadn't held him up by the arms. He half-led, half-carried Haruka into a train car, where they were lucky enough to find seating space for the both of them. Haruka sank into his seat as a wave of fatigue washed over him, wanting nothing more than to drift off to sleep, but he had a job to finish. "Makoto, put your bookbag on your lap."

As soon as Makoto complied, he slipped a hand in between the bag and Makoto's pants. He felt the other's breath hitch in his throat. "Haru, you don't have to…"

"No guy likes getting blue balls. I know that myself." He leaned in and put his lips to Makoto's ear. "Though if you want to do this properly, you'll have to wait until we get home."

Makoto gave a start, then his mouth slowly pulled upwards in a smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Too long," Haruka agreed. "Next time I won't wait for a delayed train to finally start paying attention to my boyfriend."

Makoto laughed lightly in return, only to turn it into a soft moan as Haruka's hand snuck deeper behind the bag.


	9. Day 9: Procrastination

**THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT HAS AN NSFW RATING. THOU HAST BEEN FOREWARNED.**

Haruka tried to concentrate on the question on the page. _Find the areas of the closed regions labeled A, B and C on the following – __**snore**__._

He closed the book and looked across the low table at Makoto, who was absorbed in his own homework. The only movement from the boy was the shuffling of his pen across the page and occasionally reaching a hand up to adjust his reading glasses so they wouldn't slide down the bridge of his nose. Haruka never told Makoto this, but he found those glasses absolutely attractive. More than attractive, in fact – he'd had a wet dream or two of Makoto driving into him relentlessly, pausing from marking his collarbone with frenzied love bites only once in a while to glance at him through those red-framed glasses, fixing him with a predator's stare…

Ahem. As much as he wanted to continue that fantasy in his head, Haruka still had a pile of homework waiting for him. That day's swim club practice had ended later than usual, as they'd used extra time to perfect their relay exchange times, and now they had barely enough time to finish their assignments due tomorrow. His trigonometry workbook wasn't going to solve itself after all.

Sighing to himself, he stretched out his legs underneath the low table and tucked them in again, only to accidentally brush against Makoto's inner thigh in the process. While the other was so occupied he barely noticed, an idea suddenly sprang in Haruka's mind. Perhaps the recollection of his fantasies was still fresh in his mind, as he reached out his leg again,only this time he was purposely going for Makoto's groin. When his toes felt the fabric of Makoto's pants, he began to wriggle them.

Makoto gave an involuntary giggle. "Haru, that tickles!" he exclaimed, smiling as he looked up from his homework for a while. Haruka wasn't aiming for ticklish however, so he shifted his foot around until he caught what felt like the tip of Makoto's member between his big and second toe. He wriggled them against each other, effectively rubbing the tip, and a sudden gasp from Makoto told him he'd got the right spot.

"Ha – haru! What are you doing?"

"Taking a break."

"Go make yourself a drink them, or get up and take a walk around the room or something. Just don't bother me, I'm in the middle of solving this problem."

Haruka bit his lip sulkily as he withdrew his leg, but Makoto had already gone back to his homework and didn't see. He looked down at the cover of his workbook, which seemed to mock him as it sat there silently. Frowning, he picked up the book and buried it underneath the stack of books on the table. He'd had enough of math.

He looked at Makoto again, who was currently scratching the back of his head absentmindedly as he stared at his book. Despite having just brushed Haruka off, he still looked highly irresistible in those glasses. Haruka began to envy the homework; if only Makoto would spread him open on the table and do _him_.

Enough was enough. If Haruka was desperate enough to consider a school assignment more fortunate than him, drastic measures needed to be taken. He shuffled backwards, then got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the table.

Makoto was in the midst of figuring out the value of an angle's tangent when he suddenly felt his pants being pulled down. Shocked, he bent over to look under the table, only to see Haruka put his drooping member into his mouth. "Haru! What in the world – aah!" he gasped as Haruka gently bit on the foreskin.

"Haru, I still haven't finished my trigonometry, and I have an essay to do, and… mm…" His voice trailed off as Haruka ran his tongue along the length of his shaft, ending at the bottom and then sucking on each of his balls in turn. He then took the whole thing into his mouth again, ravishing every inch thoroughly before pulling away at the top with a lewd smack. By now Makoto was clearly hard and stiff, with a bead of precum visible on his tip.

Still, he made himself get to his feet. "Haru, that's enough, I – woah!" he cried as Haruka grabbed his ankles in an attempt to stop him from leaving and he was thrown off-balance. He fell backward, his back crashing against the wall behind before he sank down to the floor. He scrunched up his eyes at the pain on the back of his head, then opened them to find Haruka straddling him.

"Sorry about that. Did it hurt?"

"What do you think?!" he retorted with a trace of exasperation in his voice.

He saw Haruka's head droop sadly and started to regret his words. "It's okay Haru, it's just… well, just don't do that again."

"I won't," Haruka promised. He leaned forward and kissed the site of collision on the back of Makoto's head, which seemed to throb less.

Makoto stroked Haruka's hair gently. "Are you really that unable to concentrate today?"

"I just didn't feel like doing any work, and then I looked up and saw you with your glasses." A blush steadily crept onto Haruka's cheeks. "I… I dream about your glasses."

The sandy-haired boy blinked in confusion. "You dream about my glasses?"

"I dream about you wearing them, and looking at me while you bit my neck and, um… oh damn it." Haruka bent down and trapped Makoto's lips with his, poking at the other's teeth with his tongue until they parted to let him in. His tongue roved over every corner of Makoto's mouth, licking along the roof of his nasal cavity. Makoto felt like he was melting just from the kiss, and let out a moan as they parted at last.

Haruka was looking at him with sultry half-lidded eyes. "So… forget about the homework?"

"Only for today," Makoto told him before kissing him again. His hands crept down Haruka's back and slipped into his jeans, gently massaging his perineum. Haruka moaned against his mouth before leaning in to deepen the kiss, knocking his glasses askew. He reached to take them off, but was stopped by his boyfriend's hand. "Leave them on," Haruka whispered. "I want you to look at me through them as you take me."

So Makoto obliged, and fixed Haruka with his red-framed gaze as he entered him later, pounding into him until they came at the same time.

…

"Well this is embarrassing." Makoto's remark earned him a sidelong stare from Haruka as the two stood side by side outside the teachers' office, facing the crowds milling about in the corridor during recess. Their math teacher hadn't been too happy with their half-finished assignments, and sent them to stand vigil outside her office while skipping break.

"At least we didn't get any come on the books."

"Haruka! That's a terrible idea!"

"Maybe we should do it next time."

"There isn't a next time!"

"Oh, I dunno. It's very easy to get into the habit of procrastination, you know." Makoto only groaned while Haruka smirked to himself.


	10. Day 10: Dreams

Clouds. Fluffy white clouds against a clear blue sky. Makoto stared up at them as they slowly shifted and changed their shape, mirrored by the pristine water below on which he was floating. He stretched out an arm and could feel somebody's hand move to meet it, and he instinctively clutched the other's palm as he turned his head to see sapphire eyes…

Then darkness fell as the alarm clock rang and he sat up in bed.

Most people woke up to sunlight streaming into their eyes, but not him. Not since he lost his eyesight anyway. That had been years ago when he was only starting preschool; by now he had grown accustomed, comfortable even, with the black curtain that veiled his eyes. It was the first time in a long, long while he'd dreamt seeing things though, and on the night right after his day out at the pool with Haruka.

Haruka was his roommate here in university, and an art major. Makoto was pursuing a degree in education; he hoped to be a teacher for the blind after graduation. They pretty much knew only each other on campus – Makoto didn't usually talk to anyone else much, since he couldn't even see them, and Haruka wasn't much of a social type either – so they'd spent a lot of their spare time together, whether it was mealtimes, or running errands, or Haruka painting in their room while Makoto typed his class assignments on his Braille-keyboard laptop. Haruka had known Makoto was blind from the first day when he'd walked smack into one of his easels which hadn't been put away, but it wasn't until yesterday that Makoto learnt something important about his friend of a few weeks.

"Later on, when we're in the water, just hold up your arm if you need me."

"Because it'll be too noisy in the pool for you to hear me?"

"The pool usually isn't crowded. It's because my hearing aids aren't waterproof, so I take them off when I swim."

"Your hearing aids - ?"

"I'm actually deaf."

To say Makoto was surprised was an understatement. Haruka went on to reassure him he'd be by his side the whole time, so he would never be too far away if Makoto needed help.

"But then how would you be able to swim if you have to watch me?"

"I never meant to do any swimming today. I just wanted to share my hobby with you, like you did for me." Makoto had divulged his love for singing to Haruka a few days before when the latter had aught him belting out a favorite tune with his headphones on. He'd even gotten Haruka to sing a few lines too, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had a pretty good voice. Haruka had only given vague responses to his enthusiastic suggestion that they go out for karaoke together sometime though, and he now supposed he knew why.

He'd spent the afternoon floating on his back at one end of the pool while Haruka swam circles around him, content to just feel the water lapping against his body. He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time, and had thanked Haruka profusely for taking him later on their way back to campus. He looked forward to the next time they could go together.

Aftr he'd washed and dressed, he headed to the cafeteria to join Haruka for breakfast. They always ate at the table closest to the door, so Makoto could find it easily. Once he'd sat down at the table with his tray of food, he heard Haruka put down his fork. "Hey Makoto, are you doing anything later?"

"No, I don't think so."

"They can you come with me to the mall? I need to buy some things."

"Sure!"

It was a Saturday, and the mall was particularly crowded. Makoto's walking stick usually created a small pocket of space in front of him as people stepped aside to let his pass, but today he kept whacking people's ankles instead as they pressed in around him. He had to hold on to Haruka's hand tightly to make sure he wasn't separated from him. Then suddenly, over the din of the crowds came the high-pitched shrill of a fire alarm.

The entire place fell eerily silent for a split-second, then someone screamed and chaos broke out. Makoto felt himself wrenched apart from Haruka as panicked hordes rushed past him. He was swept along by them for a few horrifying moments, like a small boat caught on a raging sea, until he managed to retreat to a wall and was no longer pressed forward. Only then did he dare to inch slowly along the wall back to where he'd been separated from Haruka, calling the other's name over the alarm's loud blare. "Haru! Haru!"

"Makoto!" he finally heard Haruka cry faintly from somewhere up ahead, and he doubled his efforts in an attempt to get to him faster. He was struggling against the flow of the crowds as he fumbled blindly forward, not sure what he was feeling for. Would Haruka reach out to grab him? Was he not able to see Makoto in the midst of all the people? How was a blind man supposed to find anyone in this situation?

"Makoto!" came the cry again, louder this time. Makoto left the wall and barged through the crowd, and his outstretched arms found another wall. He felt along its surface before a hand pulled him down so he was crouching. He somehow recognized the feel of the hand from his dream… "Haru?"

"Makoto." Haruka buried his face in the other's shirt, and it took Makoto a few moments to realize he was sobbing.

"Haru, what's wrong?"

Haruka said nothing but continued to hide his face in Makoto's chest, and as he ran a hand through the other's hair in an attempt to soothe him, he brushed against an ear and felt that it was bare.

"Haru, where are your hearing aids?" Makoto immediately reminded himself that Haruka couldn't hear anything he said. They must have been knocked out in the confusion. He said nothing more then, but held Haruka close as the turmoil raged on around them.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay," he whispered, as if comforting a child having a nightmare. Miraculously, he felt Haruka's sobs slow down as his friend nodded. "Ha – haru?"

"Sing for me. Please."

"Uh… okay." Makoto adjusted himself so he was sitting against the wall with Haruka in his lap, then took a deep breath and hummed the first tune that came to mind. The crowds were thinning now, and if there really was a fire it didn't seem to have approached yet. He simply stroked Haruka's hair, and sang until it was as if the alarm had faded away into the background.

…

"No, I couldn't hear you," Haruka replied the day after when asked whether he'd somehow been able to hear Makoto's voice during the fateful event. It turned out the fire had been on another floor of the mall, and was luckily under control before it could spread to the rest of the building. In the end, they had been found by the mall's security guards who were checking the other floors for any shoppers that got left behind. Haruka never let go of Makoto's hand though, not even after they were on their way back to campus.

"Then why did you ask me to sing?"

"I imagined your voice, and that helped me calm down. In my head, you were singing this melody." Haruka then hummed snatches of a tune.

"That's the same one I sang yesterday!"

"I know. I heard you sing it before in my dream. I usually don't hear sounds when I sleep, so I remember it clearly."

"You – you heard me in your dream?" Makoto paused. "Haru, are your eyes blue?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"My dream told me. I also don't see things in my dreams ever since I turned blind, but I've been dreaming of water ever since that day at the pool."

"And I was in your dream too?"  
"Yeah, you were floating right next to me." Makoto got up from Haruka's bed and stretched. "Hey, do you want to come home with me next weekend?"

"Come home with you? You're asking me to stay over?"

"If you want to."

There was silence for a while. Then, "I'd love to."

Makoto smiled, and in his mind he pictured Haruka smiling back. "It's a deal then."


	11. Day 11: Waiting Anxiously

Haruka sat at the end of the bench that was closest to the entrance of the operating room. His eyes flickered towards the light above the doors every few seconds, but it continued to cast its dull red glare on the vicinity. He was vaguely aware that there were other people in the corridor as well, but in his mind it was just him and the light.

He turned away and looked at his watch, which he checked just as frequently. It had been several hours Makoto was in the operating room, and while he knew the situation had been dire to begin with, his worries increased with every passing second. Suppose something went wrong, and Makoto – no, he refused to imagine it.

Births by Omega males had always been the trickiest among the three genders capable of childbearing. Makoto had known that from the beginning, yet whenever Haruka voiced his concerns he was always quick to reassure him that yes, this was what he wanted. Haruka could only give his husband his full support – they'd both said their marriage vows and promised to stay together 'through sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part'.

Now though, he felt powerless as the red light above seemed to mock him with its gleam. He gave up on looking anywhere else and fixed his eyes on the operating room doors, as if he could stare through them and see what was going on inside. His fists clenched. _It has to be okay. The baby will be fine. It's going to be okay_, he told himself. Then a newborn's wail broke the silence of the hospital.

Haruka got to his feet just as the red light finally went off and a nurse emerged from the operating room. "Congratulations, it's a girl!" she cried.

From opposite Haruka, a young man stepped forward worriedly. "Tori – is he – "

"Your husband's fine, Mr. Yoshino. You can see him later when he's been moved back to his room."

Yoshino fell back against the bench behind him, looking as if he'd just run a marathon and was only beginning to realize he'd finished the course. Haruka supposed he should congratulate the new father, but first he had to know something. "Is the doctor still inside?"

"He's just cleaning up." The nurse looked at him quizzically. "Are you a relative of Mr. Hatori?"

"No, I'm just waiting for Makoto."

"Dr Tachibana will be out soon," she reassured him with a smile. "Now if you'll excuse me," and she headed back into the operating theatre. After a pause, Haruka headed to the vending machine at the end of the corridor and came back with a bottle of mineral water. "Here."

Yoshino looked up from his daze. "Huh?"

"You look like you could use some water." Haruka finally allowed himself a smile. "By the way, congratulations."

…

Makoto took the bottle, unscrewed the cap and took one long gulp. "Thanks, Haru-chan."

"I should've made you promise to drop the –chan when you were saying your vows." Haruka knew Makoto was aware he didn't mean it though, and he glanced at his husband from the driver's seat to see him grinning. "The post-delivery high again?"

"Don't call it that," Makoto chided. "It's just, seeing a new life be born into the world leaves me with a sense of warmth inside, you know?"

"I do know. You're practically radiating heat from the passenger seat." Haruka smiled at Makoto's laugh before continuing. "Still, it was a highly risky case this time though."

"Ah well, omega male obstetrics has always been a tough field to specialize in. It turned out okay in the end though." Makoto smiled gently. "Thank you for waiting for me."

"Meh, I've gotten used to it. I married a specialist after all. At least I won't have to worry about finding a doctor when I get pregnant."

Makoto stared at him in disbelief. "Haru, you - "

"I guess talking to the new father spurred something inside me."

"But it's so risky – "

"Some things are worth the risk." They stopped at a red light and Haruka looked at Makoto. "You always loved children, and I think we're ready for a new addition to our family. A child who's part of both of us. You'd make an amazing father."

Makoto was wearing his gentle smile again. "And you'll make a great papa," he replied as he reached over to kiss Haruka's cheek just as the light turned green, then sat back in his seat as they continued their journey home.


	12. Day 12: Budgeting

Kiku stared sullenly at the piece of paper in her hand. "This is stupid."

"What is?" Shouta leaned over and tried to see what was written on her best friend's slip, but Kiku held it away out of her range of sight. "Oh come on! Lemme see!" She made many passes at the paper, but Kiku managed to dodge every single one of them. Finally though, Shouta emerged victorious with the paper in hand.

She took one look at the word written on the slip and burst out laughing. "_Budgeting?!_"

"Give it back!" Kiku snatched the paper back, but Shouta just kept howling with hilarity.

"Good luck trying to write _that_ prompt!"

"Oh yeah? What did _you_ draw?"

Shouta grinned as she handed over her own slip. "Predator."

"How fitting. You can write about your piranha teeth."

"They're _shark_ teeth. Sharks are way cooler." Shouta shrugged. "You could always draw another prompt, or since there isn't a word limit on how long you have to write, just make up something and be done with it. "Budgeting is for weaklings, I buy on impulse.'" She snorted at her own joke.

"No thanks." Kiku didn't show it, but she was actually determined to do well in this creative writing club. If she had to write an award-winning essay on accounts and finances, so be it.

That afternoon Haruka found her daughter staring at the row of thick green hardcover notebooks arranged according to year on the bookshelf in the study. "Kiku? What are you looking for?"

Kiku explained her writing assignment. "Mom, why do you do all your accounts by hand? Shouta says she's seen her mom saving her accounts on her laptop."

"I do save our accounts on our computer. It's just I've been doing my budgets on paper ever since I was in high school, so now I always write them out first and type them later."

"Oh."

"Doesn't sound like that's of much help to you though." Haruka looked up and suddenly had an idea. She pulled out an account book from the shelf and opened it to a random page. "Take a look."

Kiku read the first column on the page. "Textbooks, stationery, tuition fees… are this from your high school days?"

"University, actually. See, there's an entry for apartment rent down there." Haruka pointed to the corresponding row on the page.

"But why is it split in half? In fact," Kiku flipped through the pages, "nearly everything from here on is divided in two."

"That was around the time your father and I started living together. We even continued living in the same apartment after we graduated, until we moved here when the cafe opened. You had just been born then."

"Really?" The only home Kiku had ever known was the apartment above her mother's cafe. It wasn't spacious, but just big enough for the five of them. Her parents had talked about getting a bigger place so her younger twin siblings would have more room to play in before, but that never amounted to anything. Their current home was already good enough.

Kiku closed the book and looked up at her mother. "Mom, did you share all your expenses with Dad?"

"That's right. We paid for almost everything with our combined salaries from out part-time jobs, and even after we started working we still split all our expenditures. I guess not all couples do this, but Makoto and I have been sharing things ever since we were kids. It just came naturally to us."

Kiku remembered something. "Like that time we were getting ice-cream, and Dad split a popsicle in two and gave you half."

"That was from our school days. He always got the dual-stick popsicles so he could share them with me."

"So when you're married you share everything with your partner?"

"Not necessarily. Different people have different arrangements, but that's how it is for us. We'd shared all our joys and worries, pretty much our whole lives, as far back as we can remember – marriage only meant we do it while wearing rings. Like you know someone'll always have your back, looking out for you."

"And splitting popsicles as well?"

"Right. That too."

"So can we get ice-cream now?"

"Quick to change the topic, aren't you?" Haruka poked her daughter's sides, and smiled as she giggled.

…

A week later, the teacher-in-charge of the creative writing club set aside a piece on sharks and their awesomeness to read an essay with the following opening: _Budgeting is planning ahead how you're going to spend your money, what you'll do with your life. But if you're lucky enough, you'll have someone to share it with – someone who'll always split a popsicle with you…_


	13. Day 13: Mounting Attraction

"So do you guys have two ribcages?"

Makoto looked up from the apple he was eating. "Huh?"

Haruka picked up a random twig on the ground and started drawing a figure in the dirt. "See, you're human from the waist up, but your torso is attached to a horse's shoulders. So you have both a human's chest and a horse's chest. Does that mean you have two ribcages?"  
The young centaur was baffled. "Uh… I you put it that way, I guess so?"

"Then do you have two stomachs, and two hearts, and - "

"Uwah, I've never really thought of that before." Makoto's head was spinning from the idea of having two set sof internal organs. He looked at the half-eaten apple in his hand and started to wonder whether that bite he'd just taken was going through his human stomach now or his horse stomach. Wait – didn't horses have four stomachs? Or was that only cows? His brain felt like it was going to explode from trying to comprehend the mystery of his anatomy.

Meanwhile, Haruka was adding details to his drawing. "And how do you sleep? Are you able to lie down on your back? Or if you tuck your legs in like normal horses, how does your upper half rest?"

"Er, we do tuck in our legs and then lean against something, like a wall or a tree, to sleep. Or hay piles – they're quite comfortable." Makoto then noticed the drawing Haruka had completed. "Is that – is that me? Wow, you're really good at drawing Haru-chan."

"Drop the –chan," Haruka said immediately. "Of course I can draw you; I spend so much time hanging around you."

Just as Makoto giggled, they could hear the maidservant's voice. "Prince Haruka! Where are you? It's time to go home!"

Makoto looked up at the sky. "Ah, the sun is setting already. I'd better get back too."

Haruka got to his feet. "Same time here tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Makoto got up as well, his long legs placing him half a head higher than Haruka. The height difference would increase as they grew older, and the little prince once wondered aloud how he was supposed to talk to Makoto when they were both adults – would he have to stand on a stool? Makoto immediately reassured him he'd gladly bend down so his prince could talk to him without having to constantly look up at him, and besides Haruka would be level with him once he learned how to mount a horse. Then they could ride together at the same pace, instead of Makoto trotting slowly so Haruka could keep up as they did now.

For someone whose best friend was a centaur though, Haruka didn't seem to be any good with horses, for a week after he was supposed to begin learning how to ride he had still yet to find a horse that didn't either try to buck him off when he was on it or shy away whenever he approached it. Just when his riding instructor was at his wits' end, Makoto came forward and offered to let his friend practice mounting on him, at least until a suitable horse was available.

The riding instructor was appalled. "Humans are not supposed to ride centaurs! It is a sign of utmost disrespect to your kinsmen, Makoto!"

"Centaurs allow themselves to be ridden in the interspecies military division though," Makoto stated. "Besides, Haru's my friend. I would be honored to help him learn to ride."

So a saddle was strapped on him, and he trotted up to Haruka ready to begin. However, unlike his previous sessions with horses, this time the blue-eyed prince was reluctant to get on him. "I can't do this. You're my best friend, I can't ride on you!"

"A horse is supposed to be a human's loyal companion as well," Makoto reminded him. "If you want to earn a creature's loyalty, whether human or animal, you must show them you're deserving of their trust first. Only then will they be willing to comply." He then stood patiently as Haruka put one foot in the stirrup, then hoisted himself up.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's fine," Makoto replied, smiling reassuringly before remembering that Haruka could not see him. "There aren't any reins for you to use, so you'll have to hold on to my waist."

"The human one or the horse one?" Haruka asked in a deadpan voice.

Makoto laughed. "You'll do fine at riding, Haru-chan."

"I said, drop the –chan." Haruka put his arms around Makoto's bare torso, holding on to his sides. The centaur reared up, "Here we go then!" and they were off, rotting at a leisurely pace.

Haruka shifted around in the saddle until he was in a comfortable position. "This is easy. Can we go faster?"

"Haru, you're still new to riding. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Do it. Your prince commands it." Haruka rarely played the royal card, and when he did there was no talking him out of things.

"Okay then, but hang on tight." After making sure Haruka was hugging his chest (the human one) firmly, Makoto took off at a gallop, slowly gaining speed as they raced towards the horizon.

Once Haruka had gotten over the shock of the acceleration, it was as if he entered a new world. With the wind whistling through his ears and his hair flying behind him, he felt as if he was flying. He looked down and saw their shadows running alongside then, the upper halves of two boys on a horse's body. A queer sensation came over him; he'd never felt closer to Makoto than he did then. It was almost as if the two had become one being. I could get used to this, he thought.

They rode back to where they started to find the riding instructor looking as if he was on the verge of a heart attack. "Makoto! What were you thinking, going that fast?! Prince Haruka could've fallen off and gotten seriously injured!"

"I told him to go faster," Haruka cut in, defending his friend. "I learn fast when I'm on him. From now on, I will ride him until I find a suitable horse. If he doesn't mind, that is," he quickly added, glancing at Makoto. The centaur quickly shook his head to show that he didn't mind at all.

And so, Makoto found himself becoming Haruka's mount as well as his friend, and the two of them went riding for long distances every day. He also took Haruka to the stables and taught him how to groom a horse, and that they loved oats as a treat, and also that they had to be treated with kindness and understanding. "It's easy for you,´Haruka told him as he stroked a foal's mane. "You're half a horse yourself."

"You're almost the same. Your riding instructor says we're nearly a two-headed centaur by now." They both burst out laughing as they tried to imagine such a creature.

The next morning, Haruka popped into the stables an hour before he was due to meet Makoto. He walked down the aisle past various horses as they slept or ate breakfast or stared back at him, until he stopped in front of a young sandy-coloured mare that'd just arrived at the royal stables two days ago. He'd groomed her under Makoto's guidance the day before, and he somehow knew she wouldn't attack or avoid him. "Here you go." He opened his palm and offered her oats, and she gladly bent down to nuzzle them before letting him pat her nose. A smile slowly spread across his face, and his arms reached for the saddle hung up on the wall to his left.

Makoto arrived later to see Haruka riding towards him on the mare's back, holding the reins loosely in one hand. "Your Highness! This… this is amazing!" the riding instructor exclaimed from behind as he approached them.

The young centaur smiled. "I told you you'd do fine at riding."

Haruka pulled up in front of him and patted the mare's neck. "She reminds me of you. She has your colour." He tugged gently on the reins and the mare turned around. "Want to race?"

"That eager to test your skills, huh?" Makoto pawed the ground with his front hooves. "Then let's go!" and they took off racing across the field, their shadows mingling to form interesting combinations of human and horse.

Haruka's days of riding on Makoto hadn't come to an end however, for when they both turned sixteen they joined the interspecies army's mounted squadron, training to fight with one on the other's back. They progressed quickly due to their previous experience riding together, yet Haruka couldn't shake off the feeling that the weapons and battle gear weren't the only new additions. For one thing, he'd developed a sudden appreciation for Makoto's back muscles; for another, he'd caught his friend sneaking glances at him when he was swordfighting with a fellow two-legged recruit while the centaurs were on the other side of the field training. There were other small details too: they seemed to unconsciously fall in line with each other whenever walking anywhere, and tended to seek each other's company most of the time when they weren't training. Even leaning against Makoto as they sat on the grass eating apples together felt different; more often than not he found himself subconsciously running his fingers along the other's mane.

Then one evening they came in hot and panting from riding together, having been the last to leave the training arena long after everyone else had gone, and headed to the water pump for a wash. Haruka rinsed his face, and then looked up to see Makoto dousing himself, droplets trickling down his hair and bare chest. It was like the sight set something off in him. "Makoto."

"Yeah?" Makoto turned around only to be pulled down (as in literally pulled down) into a kiss. Haruka had to stand on tiptoe for their lips to meet, his arms wrapped around Makoto's neck to hold them together. Despite the awkward position, miraculously, he could feel Makoto kissing him back.

They parted and stared at each other incredulously. Makoto was the first to break the silence. "What… what was that?"

Nothing. Everything. "Whatever you want it to be," was what Haruka replied finally. His mind was a muddle: did this mean he'd read too much into their interactions? But then why was he kissed back? Or was that just his imagination? He glanced worriedly at Makoto's face, not sure how the other would react.

To his surprise and relief, Makoto slowly smiled. "That sounds good." He reached for Haruka's hand. "Want me to give you a lift back?"

Haruka stared at their joined hands. "Sure." As he got up on Makoto's back, he felt as if his heart would burst from the warmth welling up inside him. He adjusted his position on Makoto's bare back, then hesitantly put his arms around his friend's torso. "Is this okay?"

The smile Makoto gave him over his shoulder set butterflies fluttering in his stomach. "It's okay." As they made their way back underneath the darkening sky, Haruka looked up and saw the first stars of the night emerge. Everything is different now. It was like mounting a horse – you swung your leg up and took a leap of faith, and if you got it right you'd be free to gallop far and wide. He rested his forehead on Makoto's shoulder. "Let's go home."


	14. Day 14: Sudden Insight

It's funny how one can just wake up and make a realization that would change their life forever, yet that was what happened one morning when Haruka opened her eyes and it hit her: she was living the wrong life.

Her arm reached out across the bed, half-hoping to find Rin's sleeping form next to her, and the other half knowing she wouldn't. Instead, her fingers curled around a soft piece of fabric, and she pulled back her arm to find Makoto's scarf in her grasp.

_He left his scarf. _She couldn't quite remember last night clearly, but she could still recall being half-led, half-carried by Makoto back to the apartment. She'd obligingly handed over her key once they reached the front door, and next thing she knew she was tucked up in bed, Makoto busying himself with pulling up the covers over her while his scarf dangled within her peripheral vision. She remembered her hand clutching it as it did now, then holding it to her face as she breathed in the warm smoky scent that always clung to him. He'd just smiled at her, then said goodnight and turned to leave, turning off the light before closing the door behind him.

_I have to get this back to him. _Another memory resurfaced in her mind: Makoto saying he'd he going back to Iwatobi later in the afternoon today. That was when they were still on their way to the bar (Haruka had cajoled him into going with her) so she was certain it wasn't just an alcohol-induced recollection. _Call me if you want to come along_, he'd said.

She hadn't been back to her hometown ever since she'd joined the national swim team and moved to Tokyo with Rin. Even when her parents moved back she didn't go to visit, for that was when she was preparing for the Olympics. The race had been swum, the medal won, the celebratory party (in which Rin had somehow persuaded her to do a striptease on the table while half-drunk) over and done with – and what was she left with? That had been almost two years ago. Things had changed. She and Rin had changed. They had reached a dead end._One door closes, another opens._

She retrieved her phone from the bedside table. Maybe a trip back would do her some good. And the scarf had to be returned after all.

…

When she emerged from the bedroom with her suitcase, she found Rin in the living room with a cigarette between her lips. The redhead blew out a puff of smoke before noticing her standing in the hallway. "Going somewhere?"

"Iwatobi. Makoto's going back to visit this afternoon. He'd invited me to come with him."

Rin shrugged. "Why not? You haven't been there in ages. And Makoto will be with you too."

"Yeah." Haruka paused. "You shouldn't be smoking, you know. It's bad for your health."

"Please. Having Sousuke tell me that every time we meet is already bad enough." Rin smiled ruefully, yet Haruka could detect a bit of wistfulness in her face as well. Four years of dating had taught her the meanings of nearly all her expressions, yet there were times she felt as if she didn't understand her girlfriend at all. Those times had been happening more often of late.

"Did you sleep in a hotel last night?"  
"Nah, I crashed in Sousuke's place. The idiot was out on night patrol, but at least he left a spare key under the floor mat. Poor guy had to sleep on the sofa when he got back though." Rin laughed at the memory before falling silent again. "How long will you be away?"

"A few days I guess, though…" It had been nagging at the back of Haruka's mind ever since she'd started packing her clothes, but it wasn't until now that she realized she meant to do it. "Though I might stay a little longer."

"Stay as long as you want." She looked up to see Rin's eyes on her. "About time you got away from it all from a while. In fact, I think we both need to take a bit of a break. The swim season's over anyway, so it's not like we're needed around here or something."

"Rin…" Haruka hesitated, but she knew she needed to get the words out. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday."

Rin put out the cigarette in the ash tray on the coffee table. "It's fine. It's been coming for quite a while anyway." She sighed. "Sometimes, you need to know when to let go to be able to reach for something better."

"I already figured that out."

"What, did you just wake up and have an epiphany or something?"

"More or less."  
Rin laughed again as she stood up and faced Haruka. "Haru, you've always been headstrong, not afraid to do what you want once you know what it is. It's one of the things that attracted me to you."

"And?"

"Abd… well, to be honest, that trait of yours was what made me feel like I had to try to keep things going between us – for your sake. At first I thought it was what you wanted, and then when it seemed like you didn't even know what that was any more, I grew even more wary of pulling away. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you."

"I know." Haruka had felt similarly; that if she tried to end things Rin would never recover. Rin was rather willful herself; it was what drew them to each other both as rivals and lovers.

"Rin, if I ever hurt you in any way - ""It's all in the past now," Rin interjected. "Nobody has to apologize for anything." A trace of her usual confident smirk played upon her face. "It was great while it lasted, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I might be out of the apartment often in the next few weeks, but feel free to come back anytime you want, to get your stuff or whatever. Unless if you'd rather have the place?"

"No, I prefer moving out myself."

"You moving in with Makoto?"

Haruka was taken aback. "What – no, I never said - "

"Calm down, I was only messing with you. Although frankly I wouldn't be surprised if you did either." Rin grinned. "Either way, enjoy yourself in Iwatobi."

"Thanks." Haruka looked at the shark-toothed swimmer and knew no matter what, they would remain close for the rest of their lives. She nodded and smiled, then picked up her suitcase and walked towards the front door.

…

"… and Ran's considering studying for a degree in hospitality after leaving school, she says she wants to open her own restaurant someday." Makoto turned left into the exit and left the highway. The roadside sign said Iwatobi was 10 kilometres away.

Haruka looked away from the scnery outside. "Really? I didn;'t know she had aspirations in that direction."

"She said she was inspired by all those times you came over and cooked for us at our house. She and Ran are very excited to hear that you'd be coming back, tough they were a bit disappointed that Rin wasn't coming as well. They want to come visit you two in Tokyo in the future."

"Actually, I won't be living with Rin for much longer. I'm moving out of the apartment."

"Huh?!" Makoto hastily stopped the car on the side of the road. "Haru, you and Rin - "

"We're fine. We just decided we'd be better as friends. I think we both knew that already before, but it wasn't until today that we settled everything."

"Today?"

Haruka shrugged. "I just woke up this morning and had a sudden insight. Oh, and I also realized I hadn't returned your scarf." She produced it from her coat pocket and made to hand it back to Makoto, then paused. She then tired the scarf around Makoto's neck herself, while he sat as still as if he'd been tuned to stone.

"There." She tucked the end of the scarf in the folds around his beck, only to brush against his Adam's apple. Her eyes slowly followed an invisible line up past his chin to his slightly parted lips, and without thinking she leaned in.

When they broke apart, there was silence in the car for a while. Then Makoto's mouth moved, but all he got out was "What?"

"Call it another sudden insight. Now are you going to drive or not?"

"Oh – yeah." But before he started the ignition again, he held her face to his and kissed her back. "My own sudden insight," he explained as he pulled away, but not before she saw what was probably the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen on him.

…

Apparently sudden insights were contagious, for six months later Rin had her own eureka moment and popped the question to Sousuke. Yes, _she _proposed to _him_, as Nagisa had to be reminded constantly.

"Did he get you pregnant or something? Ow, Rin-chan!"

"Can't I marry a guy simply because I want to and not because I need him to take responsibility for his spawn in my belly?!" Rin demanded of the blonde, who was massaging the spot on the back of her head where she'd been cuffed.

"Seriously though, you must be really anxious to get hitched if you went so far as to propose to him yourself. It' not Leap Year, is it?"

Rin shrugged. "Who cares? I don't see how an extra day in a year makes it any more suitable for a girl to propose than any other time. Besides, if it were left up to him I'd never wear a wedding ring until I hit forty, and that's if I get him drunk enough." She turned to Haruka. "You'll be my bridesmaid, right?"

"Me?" Haruka supposed it wasn't too surprising, since she was probably Rin's oldest friend of the same gender, but considering their past together she never thought Rin would be so quick to ask her. They'd broken up barely half a year ago, after all.

"Yes, you. It's thanks to you I'm becoming Mrs. Yamazaki anyway, so the least you can do is hold my bridal train on the big day."

"So only Haru-chan gets to be a bridesmaid?" Nagisa pouted.

"Of course not I'm enlisting you and Ai as well."

"Alright! I haven't seen Ai-chan in ages! D'you think she'll bring Momo-kun as her plus-one?"

"Hmm, seems pretty likely. You're bringing Rei of course, aren't you?"

"Yup! Hey Rin-chan, be sure to throw your bouquet in my direction, yeah? Then Rei-chan'll have to propose to me before I turn forty too!"

But Rin had other ideas, for on the big day itself, after what Nagisa liked to call 'Rin-chan and Sou-chan sucking each other's faces off', she marched directly towards where Haruka stood with the other two bridesmaids and deposited her bouquet in the other's arms. "There. Now get a move on," she said, gesturing to Makoto in the second aisle among the audience wih a shake of her head.

As Nagisa groaned in mock disappointment, Haruka blinked in confusion. "Rin…"

"Hey, it was your sudden insight that got us to where we are now. Think of this as going full circle." Rin leaned in and pecked Haruka on the cheek. "I wish you happiness in your new life."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

The bride grinned. "I already received plenty of those sentiments today to spare a few for you. You gotta act fast though, Nagisa's still waiting her turn to get hitched." She then turned and accepted Sousuke's hand as they took their first few steps together as husband and wife.

Nagisa eyed the flowers in Haruka's hands. "Well, I suppose I could do another stint as a bridesmaid. This time though, you _have _to throw the bouquet to me."

"No, I'll march into the audience and deliver it directly to Rei. That better?"

"Yeah!" As Nagisa laughed, Haruka looked up and caught Makoto's eye, and they smiled at each other. She then walked up the aisle after the new couple, knowing she'd be walking down it herself soon.


	15. Day 15: Grey Hair

Haruka glared at the mirror. He'd been married happily to Makoto for many years now, so of course something had to come along to mess things up. Sea witches were never to be trusted, especially not pink cheery ones like Kisumi. Still, it had been so long – though having to pay for a fulfilled wish long after the deed was done was probably the octopus' idea of a cruel joke.

He sighed and turned to leave the bathroom. Makoto happened to be out on royal business and would not be back until a few days later. Without his beloved husband to confide his worries to, he had no choice but to turn to his (no longer literally) crabby old friend.

"Oi, Rin."

"What?" Rin turned away from watching his troops training. "Oh, it's his Royal Fishyness."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Yeah, just like how you've told Makoto not to call you 'Haru-chan' for more than two decades, yet still blush faintly every time he does. But then again, I'm not your dear prince." Rin shrugged. "So what's bothering you?"

"I think I've been cursed."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "You been messing around with Kisumi again?"

"No, I haven't seen him ever since our wedding. Its jus…" Haruka reached up and parted the hair covering his left ear. "Here."

Rin squintd. "Your hair – oh, I see it now. A grey strand."

Haruka nodded. "But what does it mean? Merfolk never have their hair change colour, and I don't think humans do either."

"Well, that's where you're wrong. Sousuke and I both have quite a few grey hairs already."

"You do? I don't see any."

"They're on the abck of my head, but don't expect me to show them to you like I'm showing off some precious treasure. They're nothing special, really – a few of my soldiers have them as well. Speaking of which," Rin whirled around and started barking instructions. "Keep your arms up That's no way to lead a charge! D'you want to drop your weapons before even making contact with the enemy?! Show me some backbone!"

Well, no more advice would be coming from _that _quarter. Haruka left the military compound, nodding briefly when he passed soldiers at their posts who bowed their heads in respect for their prince's royal consort. He mildly reflected that being a general suited Rin well: both he and Sousuke were known in the army for their leadership and prowess. The two of them had certainly come a long way since Sousuke decided he needed a change of career; he wasn't about to continue being a seafood chef when that was his then-boyfriend's origins. They'd gotten married the year after they were both promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

When Haruka next looked up he found himself at the beach. Apparently his feet had carried him there while he was still lost in thought. He gazed across the ocean and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the salty sea air. Even after he'd given up the ocean, being near it always relaxed him, and Makoto soon learned after they had been married that if he couldn't find his husband in the palace there was a good chance he'd be at the seaside. Haruka kicked off his shoes and walked barefoot into the surf, feeling the waves lap around his ankles.

"Haru-chan!"

He whipped his head around at the call to see a yellow fish waving a pink fin art him from further out at sea.

"Nagisa?"

"Great to see you again, Haru-chan! I'm going to visit Rei-chan, wanna come?"  
Rei might be able to tell him what to do about his grey hair. "Sure, why not?"

Later on, Rei pushed his glasses up his break after Haruka had told him about his predicament. "So you say humans sometimes have their hair turn grey?"

"Grey like Ai-chan's hair?" Nagisa had only been ashore a few times before, and it was always Nitori who carried him around in a fish bowl whenever he came to visit Haruka and Makoto, so the steward had left an impression on him.

"Nitori's hair is naturally grey, it's been that colour since he was born," Haruka explained.

"Then who else has hair turning grey, Haru-chan?"

"Well, Rin said both him and Sousuke have a few grey strands."

"Oh yeah, Rin-chan has already returned from his military expedition, right? Sou-chan must be happy to see him again!"

"I guess." Sousuke hadn't seemed to be overly excited at his husband's return, but Haruka had spent most of the next day listening to Rin complain about being sore all over from the couple's vigorous 'activities' the night before.

Rei suddenly flapped his wings. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Nagisa asked the seagull.

"Yamazaki-san, Rin-chan-san and Haruka-senpai all have had been separated from their partners for a duration of time, and they all have their hair turn grey!"

"So their hair turns grey because they miss their husbands?"  
"No, it's more to do with the body." Rei paused for effect before his big reveal. "Humans' hair turns grey when they have not had sexual intercourse for some time!"  
Nagisa's eyes widened. "Ohhhh… but Haru-chan, don't you masturbate when Mako-chan's again?"

"Masturbation doesn't help!" Rei declared with the confident tone of an expert. "Only the act itself can satisfy a human's carnal desires properly!"

"And besides, I never touch myself. I only feel good if it's Makoto," Haruka stated. He now knew he wasn't under the influence of some curse – he was simply sexually frustrated. _Makoto must have it bad too._

So when Makoto returned two days later, he was subjected to a thorough check of his hair by his husband. "Uh Haru, I don't think I have head lice."

"What's head lice?" Haruka asked him curiously.

"Um, I'll tell you another time – but Haru, what are you looking or?"

"Grey hair. Ah," Haruka straightened out a grey strand from the crown of Makoto's head. "I knew it."

"Knew what? Haru – aah!" Haruka had put a hand down Makoto's pants and curled his fingers around the prince's member.

"It's just like Rei said – look, you're already getting hard."

"That – that's because…!" Makoto's face turned bright red. "That is... your fingers… they feel really good, and with you holding like that…"

"It's also because we've been apart for so long, right?"

"Yeah, but – haah!"Haruka had pulled down Makoto's pants, bent down and put his lips to his husband's member, trailing a line down his length with his tongue and then sucking at the bottom. Makoto shuddered, and a memory leapt out in his mind: The day Haruka had asked him what the thing hanging between their legs was. It had been the day before their wedding, and even if he'd just explained it as part of the urinary system and left it at that Haruka was bound to find out its other uses by the next night anyway, so he'd been honest and in return learnt that eating mackerel wasn't the only thing Haruka's mouth was good at.

"Rei didn't say how to turn the hair colour back though."

That snapped Makoto out of his reverie. "Huh?"

Haruka nonchalantly licked away the bead of precum on his husband's tip, causing whatever blood that hadn't reached Makoto's nether regions yet to step up the pace considerably. "I thought maybe if we made love, the colour would change back, but I can't be sure."

"Wha – how will us making love change our hair colour?"

"Well, since it turns grey due to a lack of sex, I figured this would change it back."

Makoto blinked in confusion. "Haru, our hair turns grey because we're getting older, not because we didn't, um, sleep together or anything."

"It doesn't?"  
"No, and there's no way to change the colour back either. Our hair will just eventually turn white."

"White?" Haruka straightened and ran a hand through Makoto's sandy locks. "I don't think your hair would look good white."

"It can't be helped – all humans grow old eventually. Don't merfolk age as well?"  
"We don't. We just live for 300 years and then turn to sea foam."

"Sea foam?" Makoto was shocked. "But… well, you do get to live for 3 centuries…"

"I wouldn't want to live ten centuries if you're not with me." Haruka fiddled with a lock of his own hair. "Hey, if my hair turns white one ay as well, will you still love me?"  
"Haru…" Makoto enveloped his husband in a bear hug. "I'll love you even when you're hair's completely white, and there's wrinkles all over your face, and your teeth all fall out."

"What?" Haruka looked up at Makoto from his embrace "My teeth will fall out? Then how will I eat mackerel?"

"I'll make them into a stew," Makoto suggested with a laugh. "And I'll feed you myself, and stay by your side always."

"And I'll stay with you always as well, so you'd better start learning how to make that stew," Haruka said adamantly.

"I promise I will, but in the meantime… can you take care of this first?" Makoto took Haruka's hand and put it towards his groin. "My hair won't turn back to its original colour, but there are other parts of me that would appreciate your touch. I missed you a lot, Haru-chan."

"Don't call me –chan. And you could've just taken care of yourself if you were sexually frustrated."

"Ah, but I only feel good if it's you." Makoto stroked Haruka's hair, then fondled the grey strand in the mids of his dark locks. "I think grey rather becomes you."

"Idiot." Haruka pulled Makoto close and their lips met. "I missed you too," he whispered as his fingers brushed against the grey strand on his husband's head.


	16. Day 16: Unexpected Fortune

"You there! Young man! Come over here!"

Makoto turned his head towards the direction of the voice and saw a shrunken old woman bent over a table under a canopy. He immediately recognized her as a fortuneteller. "What is it, grandmother?"

"Just get over here, I have something to tell you!" The old woman waved a hand at him insistently, beckoning to him.

Makoto crossed the street to stand in front of the old woman's booth. No sooner had he taken in the array of exotic herbs and amulets of all shapes on the table did the fortuneteller grab his palm and hold it open. She scrutinized the lines on his calloused hand carefully. "Hmm… yes… yes, I knew it! Young man, you will soon find yourself with an unexpected windfall of good luck! I have seen it in your future!"

Makoto raised an eyebrow. He didn't see how his future could be written on his palm. "Um, thanks, now I have to be going," he said as he started to turn away, but the old woman held on tightly to his hand.

"Wait! I have told your fortune young man, and knowledge of what is yet to pass comes at a price!" She held out her own wrinkled hand. "That will be two copper pieces."

Now Makoto was upset. "I'm sorry grandmother, but I didn't ask you to read my future, so I don't see why I have to pay for services I did not request. Also, you merely told me something lucky would happen to me unexpectedly – I could've predicted such a vague result myself. Now please let go of my hand, I have things to do." He finally wrenched his wrist away from her grasp and headed back across the street.

"No! Wait! Please – cough cough - " Makoto turned to see the fortuneteller doubled over in a violent coughing fit, and his resolve immediately weakened. Grabbing the water pouch slung on the side of his camel, he hurriedly returned to the booth. "Here grandmother, drink this," he said as he uncapped the pouch and held it to the old woman's mouth.

She drank greedily, water dribbling out of the corners of her mouth in her haste. Finally she put down the water pouch. "Thank you, young man."

Makoto nodded before pressing a copper piece into her palm. "Here. I know it's not much, but it might be enough for some basic herbs. Please take care of yourself." He then crossed the street again, took hold of his camel's reins and led it down the street through the crowds.

…

Makoto felt the contents of his purse and listened to the clinking of the coins inside. He'd managed to make a small profit today, yet it was not enough if his family was to survive the drought that had befallen the kingdom. He sighed as he thought about the dwindling stores of water at home. Maybe if he decreased his water ration so there would be more for – "Woah!"

He had tripped over something and fallen facefirst onto the desert floor. Spitting sand out of his mouth, he turned to see what the offending object was and saw a handle poking out of the ground. Curious, he pulled on it and a dusty old lamp emerged from the sand. On closer inspection, Makoto noticed the ornate carvings and precious gems set in the lamp's body. It would look quite beautiful when polished. He wondered who might've dropped it in the middle of the desert though. Maybe it had been buried under the ground for hundreds of years, only to be unearthed by a sandstorm. _If I take it home and clean it, it might fetch a good prize on the market._ With that, he dropped the lamp into his sack and went on his way.

Makoto's house wasn't too far from the city, yet the glaring hot sun meant he was drenched in sweat by the time he arrived home. After changing out of his clothes and rubbing himself down with a wet rag (nobody dared to take a bath any more in these dire times), he had dinner with his family and returned to his room. Pulling out the lamp from his sack, he began to rub its surface briskly with a piece of cloth.

As he removed the layers of dust and grime from the lamp's body, it seemed to gleam in the light from his oil lamp. When he was done, it looked like a treasure from some sultan's palace. "Wow," he breathed as he ran his fingers gently along the lamp's sparkling surface.

All of a sudden, it was as if a strong gale blew through his room, throwing him backwards as the lamp flew out of his hands. It landed upright on the floor and he watched in shock as blue plumes of smoke billowed up from its spout. When the smoke cleared, Makoto's heart almost jumped out of his throat. The upper half of a young man was suspended above the lamp, his torso ending in a blue stream of smoke that trailed out of the lamp's spout.

"A – a genie?" Makoto rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating, but when he looked again the spirit was still there.

Then it spoke. "Master, what do you wish me to do?"

"Wish you to do? You mean – you'll grant me wishes and all that?"

"Indeed," the genie replied. "Just say the word, and it will be done."

Makoto's hand was spinning. "Wait, I – I don't even know your name."

The genie raised an eyebrow. "You ask for a genie's name?"

Makoto silently cursed himself for being a fool – in the stories about genies, when did they ever have names? "It's just – I needed something to call you by - "

"Haruka. You can call me Haruka." The genie floated closer to Makoto, who instinctively shuffled backwards from his curious stare.

"You're certainly not like my previous masters."

"You – your previous masters?"

"Sorcerers. Magicians. Practitioners of the mystical arts." Haruka's blue eyes gave the impression of staring right into Makoto's soul. "You don't seem like you know any mystical arts."

"I – no, I'm just an ordinary human. I mean, if I knew magic of any kind, I would conjure up a never-ending source of water or something - "

"You wish for water?" Haruka's eyes seemed to sparkle at the mention of water.

"I – yeah, a source of water that never runs out, that would be - "

"Understood." And Haruka disappeared with a soft 'poof!', leaving Makoto alone in his room with only the newly cleaned lamp for company.

The young man blinked rapidly in confusion. "I must be dreaming," he told himself. "I'm probably tired out from today's work." With that, he blew out his lamp, crawled into bed and gave over to sleep as it claimed him.

…

"Brother! Brother!" Makoto opened his eyes to see Ran's and Ren's excited faces hovering inches above his own. They were both grinning from ear to ear.

"Ran? Ren? What's going on?"

"There's an oasis behind our house!" Ran cried gleefully. "A real oasis!"

Makoto wondered if he was still dreaming. "An oasis…"

"Well don't just stay here, come and have a look!" Ren shouted as he and his twin hustled their older brother out of bed and out the back door.

The back of the house had become an empty space for the camel they owned to roam about in, although now the beast was at the water's edge drinking from the oasis. No, not just one – _two _camels.

Makoto once again wondered if this was all just part of a dream. "Um, did our camel sprout a double?"

Ran giggled. "No silly, that's the handsome guy's camel."

"The handsome guy's camel…" Makoto's voice trailed off as he noticed the figure floating serenely on the water's surface. Apparently genies could grow legs when not attached to a lamp, as Haruka noticed the watchers' presence and stood up in the water, the droplets on his chest glistening in the sun.

Just as he made his way towards them though, Makoto gave a yelp of shock. "Haruka! You're not wearing pants! Stay there and don't move!" He dashed into the house and Ran and Ren squealed in laughter, and soon came back with clothing. "Here, put these on," he told Haruka as he held out the clothes towards him.

Minutes later, Haruka was in the family's kitchen dressed in Makoto's old clothes which he'd outgrown a couple of ears before. They still seemed rather loosen on the genie's slender frame though, and the broad sleeves flapped around whenever he reached for something on the table.

"This is…"

"Ah, that's _roti_," Ran supplied helpfully. "Haven't you eaten it before, Haruka?"

"I normally only eat mackerel."

"Only mackerel? Wow, where do you get all that fish?"  
"I live by the sea, actually."

"The sea? We've never been to the sea before – what's it like?"

"Now Ran, Ren, don't keep pestering our guest. Besides, weren't you supposed to help Uncle Kassim with his goats today?"  
"Oh yeah! See you then, Haruka!" The twins dashed out the front door, leaving their brother to clear whatever was left of breakfast off the table.

"I didn't know camels were part of creating an oasis,' he observed casually as he worked.

Haruka shrugged. "I figured I needed a ruse if anyone saw me floating in an oasis for no apparent reason, so I decided to cover as a traveller who wanted to refresh himself and his camel."

"Then why don't you just return to the lam instead of soaking yourself in the water?"  
"It's been too long since I've been anywhere near a body of water."

"Eh? But just now you said you lived by the sea."

"I did, in a hidden cove. Ever since I was enslaved though, I haven't been back in all these years."

"Oh." Makoto started to feel sorry for Haruka. "If so… is there a way to free a genie?"

"Only if their master wishes to do so. But who would anyway? We're too valuable," Haruka said drily.

"I see." Then there was silence as Haruka chewed on his _roti_. Just as Makoto was about to speak again though, a shout came from outside.

"Brother! Brother!"

"Ren? What's going on?" Makoto ran out the back door, only to find a crowd gathered behind the house, jostling noisily about to get closer to the oasis. They all fell silent at the sight of Makoto striding out. The only movement then was Ran and Ren running towards their brother.

Makoto crouched down and caught them in his arms. "What happened? Why are all these people here?"

"Well, Uncle Kassim said there was no more water at his house for his goats, so we suggested we water them at the oasis. Then he wanted to come along to see for himself, and on our way we passed Aunt Mariam's house, and she saw us, and - "

"Makoto!" Uncle Kassim now emerged from the crowd. "How in the worl did this oasis get here?! He whole kingdom's been bone-dry for months!"

"Um, well…" Makoto wasn't about to blurt out that he'd met a genie and had a wish granted, and as he tried to come up with a good reason his eyes fell on the water jug under Uncle Kassim's arm. "Ah, you're all here to get water, right?"  
"Well, when Ran and Ren told me an oasis had sprouted behind your house of course I first thought of the water stores in my house. There isn't any left for my goats, and pretty soon there won't be any for me too."

"We're almost out of water as well at our house. My children complain of thirst all day long," Aunt Mariam added to murmurs of agreement from the rest of the crowd.

"Then by all means, feel free to take as much water as you need! There's plenty for everyone here! Just please line up in an orderly fashion, and don't push each other around."

Before long a long queue had formed, winding all around Makoto's house and snaking out to the village road in front. Makoto stayed to make sure there was no unruly behavior, and accepted the villagers' thanks with a modest nod. By the time the last of them had gotten their water, night had already fallen.

Later, Makoto entered his room after the first bath he'd had in a very long time to find Haruka sprawled on his bed. "Um, Haru-chan, don't you have your lamp to go back to?"

The genbie raised an eyebrow. "Haru-chan?"

"Oh, I mean, uh… calling you 'Haruka' all the time feels pretty strange…"

"I'd rather you stick to that. 'Haru-chan' sounds annoying," Haruka deadpanned.

"Um, okay… then Haruka, don't you want to go back to your lamp?"

Haruk sat up on the bed. "If my master commands me to do so then I will… but it feels nice to stretch my legs after being trapped in that lamp for so long. Or to be more exact, have legs to stretch."

"I see… then it's okay, you take my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"No!" Haruka paused. "I mean, I would not want to give my master any inconvenience, so I'll take the floor instead."

"Seems pretty poor though, having to spend your first night out of the lamp on the cold hard ground." Makoto thought hard. "I know! Why don't we just share the bed?"

Haruka seemed stunned. "You mean… sleep side by side? But… I've never heard of humans doing that…"

"Well, maybe your sorcerers and magicians don't, but the rest of us do it often enough. I used to sleep with Ran or Ren whenever they had a nightmare, I'm used to it." Makoto climbed up on the bed next to Haruka and lay down. It wasn't very spacious, but they could just barely lie next to each other without any part of their bodies sticking out over the edge of the mattress.

There was silence in the room, then Haruka spoke tentatively. "Is this how humans sleep together?"

"Uh, pretty much. That is, on a platonic basis of course, like silings or friends."

"… Am I your friend?"

Makoto was surprised at the shyness in Haruka's voice, and found it strangely endearing as well. "Well, I guess our meeting was rather out of the blue… but you did help me a lot by granting my wish, so I guess I do consider you a friend. Also, I don't want to be your master, so just call me Makoto."

"Ma… koto," Haruka repeated, trying on the feel of the name on his tongue.

"Yeah." Makoto let out a huge yawn. "Well, I'm going to sleep first. Good night." He curled up on his side facing Haruka, and was soon asleep in minutes.

Haruka did not fall asleep immediately though. His blue eyes roved over Makoto's sleeping face, taking in every detail. He had lived for hundreds of years, yet this was the first time he was in such close proximity to a human, both physically and mutually. _Now this is definitely an unexpected outcome._

He didn't think he minded one bit though. Smiling faintly at his new master – no, _friend_, he closed his eyes as well.


	17. Day 17: Red Umbrella

"Is that… is that a red umbrella?"

"At a funeral?"

"How disrespectful…"

"Who are the parents of this child?"

"Lack of proper teaching, that's what it is."

Makoto huddled timidly under the red umbrella, as if it could shield him from the stares and mutters as well as the light drizzle. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his mother.

"Makoto-kun, I think it's best if you put down that umbrella. You can share mine, okay?"

"Bu – but I need to use this one! It… it was his…" Without warning, fat tears started rolling down the little boy's cheeks, and his breaths came out in uncontrollable sobs.

"Makoto…" He could not see his mother's face through the tears, so he only blindly followed the arms that steered him to the side and sat him down on a bench. There he sat by himself, trying and failing to staunch the flow of tears until a handkerchief appeared before him. He accepted it, wiped his eyes and looked up to see Haruka standing in front of him.

"Haru-chan!"

For once, Haruka did not protest the usage of the suffix '-chan'. "Feel better?"  
Makoto took a deep breath and could feel his emotions calming down. "Yeah. Thanks."

Haruka sat nex to him on the bench, setting his own black umbrella aside. "Your mum said you couldn't be with the other mourners, so she told me to come find you here."

"I think it was because of my umbrella." Makoto looked up at the umbrella he still held above him and felt a fresh wave of sadness wash over him, but this time he was more in control of his emotions. "I wanted to bring it because he gave it to me. He said it was his favorite, so he wanted me to take good care of it."

Haruka nodded. "He would be happy to see you using it."

"But I guess the colour's a bit inappropriate for a funeral."

"Actually, I don't think it's a problem. People always think funerals have to be solemn and gloomy, but think about it: who would want to be remembered in such a way? For one, I don't think he would."

Makoto managed to smile. "You're right. He was always so cheerful and friendly, he wouldn't want to see us get so sad over him."

"That's why he gave you that umbrella – so you would look at it and have happy memories of your time together."

"Like when we went fishing, or when he took me aboard his boat…" Makoto fell silent. "His boat was neevr found ater the storm."

"But at least you still have thisto remind you of him." Haruka gestured to the red umbrella.

"Yeah." Makoto stood up. "Thanks, I feel better now. Let's rejoin the others."

"So you'll take your umbrella with you?"

"Yup. He would want to see me with it before he goes into the ground forever."

"God, then I'll just put mine away. I'm too lazy to hold my own umbrella." And with that Haruka closed his umbrella and let it hang on one arm, then got under Makoto's umbrella. The two of them then walked among the tombstones side by side, the red umbrella standing out from its grey surroundings.

…

They stood in front of the newly-covered grave, loking down at the tombstone with the carvings freshly etched on it. Everyone else had left, wanting to get here before the mild drizzle turned into a fully-fledged downpour, so they werethe only ones in the graveyard. The red colour of the umbrella still gleamd bright against the faded background as always.

"Haru, we should be leaving too."

"Just a few minutes more. I want to spend a little more time with her." Haruka had not cried once during the entire service, and Makoto was frankly a bit worried about his friend's stoic exterior.

"We could come back tomorrow and bring her some flowers. She liked flowers."

"Fresh ones. Prefarably red, like your umbrella. She loved red." Haruka paused, then spoke with a slight tremor in his voice. "She… she said red was widely believed to be a lucky colour, and even though supposed lucky charms never work, it never hurt to try. She also said red makes people feel happy."

Makoto turned his head at that, just in time to see a tear slide down Haruka's cheek. "Oh, Haru." He reached out an arm and pulled his friend to his chest, and the rain fell around them as the front of his shirt grew wet with tears.

…

"That's a really pretty umbrella," Kairi said when she saw it.

Makoto smiled gently down at her. "Oh? In what way?"  
"It givs people a happy feeling. Like there's a big celebration, or a festival."

'Would you like to go to a festival?" Haruka asked her.

Her little green eyes shone. "A festival! Where?"  
"In Iwatobi. It's our hometown, and there's a summer festival whenever it's the middle of the year. We're going back in a few weeks."

"That sounds fun! I rarely go anywhere outside of Tokyo."

"Well, we'll be going there a lot. It's your hometown too now." Makoto held open the door as Haruka opened the umbrella.

"Got all your things?"

"Yeah!" Kairi handed over her little suitcase to Haruka, then watched as he slung its straps over his shoulders.

"Makoto."

"Got it." Makoto bent down and swept Kairi into his arms, then lifted her off the ground. Her black hair brushed across his face.

"Let's go." And they walked out the door and down the street away from the orphanage, Haruka holding the umbrella over their little family.

"Daddy, your arms are really strong!"

"Haha,the better to carry you with, my dear."

"What about me? I'm holding the umbrella for all of you."

"Okay Papa, you're really strong too!"

"Haru, move the umbrella towards yourself a bit more, you're getting wet."

"It's fine. As long as you two are okay."

"Then come closer, Papa! That way all of us won't get wet!"

"Okay." Haruka moved closer so his shoulders were rubbing against Makoto's arms. He smiled as Kairi laughed at a joke Makoto had made, and held the umbrella closer to them. The umbrella had seen its fair share of endings, and now it was witness to a new beginning as well.


	18. Day 18: Caffeine Rush

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

The man looked up to see a lovely dark-haired lady standing beside him at the entrance to the cafe. Her tall lithe form cast shadows on the pavement from where the lights of the cafe's sign shone on her.

"Oh no, let me buy you one instead." It wasn't every day pretty young women came up to him and offered do buy him coffee – he wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away.

They sat at a table overlooking a window, their drinks sitting in front of them. He found her to be quite well-versed in a wide range of topics, from the economy to politics to current affairs. By the time their cups were empty, he had given her his name card.

It wasn't until they had separated and he was halfway home that he realized she'd never left her contact details.

In the meantime, a bedroom door was opened and lights were turned on. A handbag was tossed onto the bed as its own sat down in front of the dressing table that sat along one wall. Hair extensions were removed, makeup was taken off, and a scarf was unwound to reveal the Adam's apple underneath. After a few minutes, Nanase Haruka faced his own reflection in the mirror.

The taste of the coffee from just now was still on his tongue. He'd decided to order a mocha, for it was a specialty of the cafe he'd just visited. The hour before he'd been sipping a cappuccino at a coffeeshop two blocks down, and before that it was a latte at a new franchise outlet across town. He'd gotten in total two name cards and one phone number scrawled on the back of a napkin, but he knew their owners would never receive a call from their companion of that night. He only did it for the caffeine, and nothing more.

Haruka had had an obsession with coffee ever since he was little. He supposed it was a matter of the environment he grew up in; he was raised by his grandmother, who'd run a small but renowned coffee joint herself. She'd once told him how she'd almost gotten married to a fisherman back in her seaside hometown – if she'd walked down that road her grandson might be obsessed with fish instead, she used to joke. He happened to be rather fond of mackerel as well, yet coffee would always be his first love.

He had a rather discerning taste though, so the only places that served the quality of coffee that he deemed acceptable were way out of his financial capabilities as a fresh graduate from college. He had one thing going for him though: his decidedly androgynous looks. He couldn't say exactly where he'd gotten the idea, but he went and bought the different parts of his outfit online, and was soon chatting up strangers in his new getup.

To be honest though, he was surprised at his success rate. Nearly every man he talked to was more than happy to treat him to a cup, and soon he'd been a patron of nearly every high-end cafe in town at least once. He always headed to a different location once he'd parted ways with a 'benefactor', to lessen the chances of being recognized. He could travel over half the entire city in one night, but he didn't mind as long as he got his caffeine fix.

The next day was a Saturday, and he was wandering around the city leisurely when he happened across a maid cafe. He usually avoided such establishments like the plague, for they put way more emphasis on their staff than their fare, and as a result he always rated their offerings as 'bland' at best and 'downright disgusting' at worst. This time though, he caught a whiff of freshly roasted coffee beans as the door swung open and a customer came out. The fragrant aroma left his mouth watering, and without further hesitation he entered the cafe.

"Welcome!" cried a waitress in a perky little Lolita maid outfit, which he summarily ignored. Instead, he headed straight for the counter.

"Excuse me."

The barista turned, and he was faced with a riveting pair of green eyes. "Yes?"

"Um, one tiramisu latte please," he ordered after glancing at the menu overhead.

As the barista turned back, her frilly skirt swished around her knees. He wondered how she could work all day in such an outfit, especially when it barely seemed to fit her frame. She was quite tall for a girl, that was sure; she even appeared to be taller than him. Maybe she was wearing high heels as part of her costume – _really _high heels.

"Here you go, sir." She set down his drink in front of where he'd sat at the bar that adjoined the counter. He waited until she had turned away again before putting the mug to his lips, and his taste buds were instantly invaded by an infusion of sweetness laced with a slight bitter taste that balanced it out nicely and left a lovely aftertaste in the mouth. His initial impressions of theme cafes were immediately thrown out the window.

"A little less milk would be better though."

"Is that so?" He looked up to see the barista smiling at him.

_God, did I say that aloud?_ "Well… I just thought the tiramisu would be better enjoyed if it was allowed to permeate the drink with its flavor more. It's just my own opinion though."

"It's fine. I always worry I add too much milk or sugar to the drinks – I guess it's because I have a sweet tooth." The barista scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, a gesture which he found strangely endearing. He also thought her unusually deep voice rather suited her as well. _Wait, why am I paying so much attention to these details anyway?_

"I'll take your advice next time though, so thanks," she was saying.

"You're welcome. Though to be fair, you should be given credit for making a fine drink."

"It's nothing. I only started this job a few months ago, so I suppose you can say I'm still trying to get into my stride. I'm glad you enjoyed the coffee though."

"I did," he glanced at her name tag, "Makoto."

Her smile grew wider at the usage of her name. "Well, business is pretty slow anyway, so since you already know my name, I guess I should know yours as well?"

"I'm Haruka."

"Nice to meet you, Haruka."

He raised an eyebrow. "You aren't surprised that I have a feminine name?"

"Not really. In fact I – that is, I know someone who has a girly name too even though he's a guy, so I don't think it's that strange." She kept brushing a strand of sandy brown hair away from her face as she spoke, repeatedly fixing it back underneath the maid's hairpiece she wore.

His eyes followed the movements of her fingers. "It must be uncomfortable, having to wear that costume all day at work."

"Well, this was the only barista job I could get, what with my lack of working experience. It does feel a bit weird having to dress up like this, especially with my physical build and all, but it was worth it to be able to do a job I love."

"Haven't you ever considered working in a more renowned cafe someday though?"

"Yeah, I have. There's actually this cafe close to the heart of the city that I hope to work in someday."

His eyes widened in recognition of the mention of the cafe's name. "That one? I've heard of it – it's very popular for its drinks and gourmet pastries." He didn't mention that he'd been a customer there a couple of times before – it would seem strange that someone like him could frequent such an upscale place.

That night, he headed to the aforementioned place in another of his dresses. He'd spent the afternoon chatting with the barista, oblivious to the passing of the time, until he looked at his watch and realized he had to leave immediately to catch the bus back to his apartment. It wouldn't until he was back home that he suddenly remembered he'd never asked for Makoto's number, nor given his own. _I guess this must be payback, _he thought ruefully, thinking of all the name cards and telephone numbers he'd discarded before.

He entered the cafe and took a seat at a table close to the door, where he could see everyone that entered or exited. A waiter came up to him, but he politely refused him by telling him he was waiting for someone. It wasn't long afterwards that he spied a potential target walking through the front door and to the coat hanger set against a wall. He immediately got up and headed towards the young man.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" he asked in a voice more high-pitched than his normal tone.

The man turned around, and his eyes widened as they met another familiar pair of green ones.

"Haruka?"

"Ma – makoto?!"

…

He sat with his hands wrapped around his glass. The waiter had raised an eyebrow when he ordered plain water, but it was all he could afford with the money he had with him presently, not counting the amount he'd set aside for his bus fare later. Three hours had passed and yet he still stared listlessly at the only half-empty glass.

Just then, someone slid into the seat across the table, and he looked up to see Makoto sliding a plate with two muffins towards him. "Here. I figured you'd like something to eat after waiting for me for so long."

Haruka took a muffin and stared at it incredulously. "Did… did you buy these? The cafe's muffins are very popular… and also very highly-priced."

"No, the manager said I could take a couple for my girlfriend."

"Your - " Haruka's face went bright red. "Should – shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Actually, it wouldn't work that way either. I'm the someone with the feminine name whom I mentioned before." Makoto was looking anywhere but at Haruka's face as she – _he_ spoke. "I… I guess it must be strange, me turning out to be male when I work at a – at a - "

"… No wonder you said you felt weird wearing that costume." An image of Makoto as he was now – short hair, Adam's apple, well-built arms – in his maid outfit from before suddenly emerged in Haruka's mind, and he burst out laughing. To his surprise, Makoto started laughing with him, and the awkward tension between them was broken.

"So how was the interview?" he asked before biting his muffin and then setting it down.

"It went fine. The manager said I could start work next week, as an apprentice. I'm only working here on Mondays and Wednesdays though, so I'll still be at the maid cafe the rest of the time."

"Well, it's a first step towards dumping the maid getup."

Makoto laughed again. "I now kinda wish you never saw me in those clothes, though I guess if that was so then we wouldn't have met at all. I really wanted to get your number, but I was afraid you'd refuse to any more communication with me once you found out my true gender."

"You mean, you wanted my contact details?"

Makoto grinned. "Well, I have a preference for dark-haired guys."

"That's half the male population in Japan."

"Ah, but few of them would look as good in a dress." Makoto paused. "I – I know it sounds queer coming from me, but… you're really beautiful as a girl."

"I wish I could return the compliment, but I don't want to lie."

Makoto laughed again as he took a muffin himself. "Then maybe you should consider taking my place in the maid cafe."

"No thanks. I only drink coffee, not make it. Oh well, at least I know where to go on Mondays and Wednesdays now."

"But I'll be working, so I can't talk to you then. Unless you can wait until my shift is over?"

"We'll see. If you can get me another of these muffins for free then I'll think about it." It was only then that Haruka noticed the muffin Makoto had just bitten into and fell silent.

"Haruka? What's wrong?"

"That – that was the muffin I just took a bite of."

"It is? So then – _oh_." Makoto stared at the muffin in his hand as if it had sprouted wings. "It – it's like - "

" – an indirect kiss," Haruka finished. Then they both went beet red.

"Oh please, get a room." They looked up to see the manager at the door with a bunch of keys dangling from one hand. "You two lovebirds go finish up somewhere else, I wanna be home before midnight when my carriage turns back into a pumpkin."

A few hurried apologies later, they were walking down the street together. Haruka glanced repeatedly at Makoto beside him, then at his hand inches away from his own. "Hey, um…"

Makoto looked at him, then smiled in understanding before taking his hand. "There, it's warmer like this, isn't it?" He winked conspiratorially.

Haruka smiled as well. "Yeah." Then as they approached the bus stop he spoke again. "So… you mentioned something about telephone numbers earlier?"


	19. Day 19: Lost In The City

The streets were full of traffic. On the pavements, people streamed past rows of shops while neon lights shone overhead. The sounds of cars honking, music playing and people talking mingled together to form a symphony unique to a bustling metropolis.

The sandy-haired puppy wandered helplessly through all the organized chaos, overwhelmed by everything around him. Everywhere he turned there was a new sight, and different scents constantly wafted through his nostrils, yet he only wanted to see his comfy cushion in a corner of the kitchen, and smell the appetizing smells of dinner cooking on the stove. He'd only been exploring the interior of that truck parked in the driveway, yet when he was inside he'd heard a loud noise and felt the floor vibrating below him, then got thrown off his feet as the earth seemed to tip itself upside down. By the time the scary rocking had stopped, he'd poked his head out only to find himself in completely unfamiliar surroundings.

Now he turned left into an alley, hoping to have a small respite from the hustle and bustle outside. He sniffed around the dumpsters and trash cans before settling himself in a reasonably dry corner. He laid his chin on his front paws – then lifted it suddenly as he spotted something underneath the dumpster opposite him. He stared – and that something stared_back_.

"Arf!"

The pair of gleaming blue eyes only blinked lazily at his pathetic bark before disappearing entirely. Then they appeared again, only to grow bigger in size. And then, a cat emerged from the shadows, its fur dark as midnight.

"Arf!"

The cat did not deign to reply, but simply slinked away without a second glance. It was the only other living thing that did not tower over the puppy though, so without thinking he took off running after the cat down the alley.

They soon came face to face with a barbed wire fence. The cat shimmied through a hole in the fence, and after some difficulty the puppy managed to squeeze through as well. The cat turned to regard him disdainfully, as if to say _Oh, you're still here?_, then jumped up onto a wall and down to the other side, disappearing out of sight.

"Auh?" No amount of whining brought the cat back however, so instead the puppy walked the length of the wall, looking for a way through. He final found an opening and scampered through, only to find a posse of rogueish stray felines hissing menacingly at a corner. He moved closer, and saw the black cat from before huddled in the corner, glaring defiantly at the strays yet with no way out.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

The strays turned to find a large ball of sandy fur bounding towards them at top speed while barking furiously. With yowls of fright they streaked away in all directions quick as lightning, and a second later there was only the puppy and the cat in the corner.

"Arf!" The puppy panted happily with his tongue lolling out at the cat, whose blue eyes were turned on him in suspicion. Then it flicked its ears and strolled away, but not without a backward glance that seemed to say _Fine, you can tag along_.

As the sky darkened, the puppy trotted happily behind his new acquaintance, feeling a lot better than he had earlier in the day. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks as a loud rumbling came from his belly. The cat turned and gave him the feline equivalent of a raised eyebrow. Then it nodded towards up ahead before taking off running, leaving the puppy to race after it.

Soon the puppy's nose detected a waft of something good cooking. The smells seemed to issue from a door that appeared to be the back entrance of a restaurant, for stacks of dirty plates in soapy sinks could be seen through the half-open door. The puppy peered curiously inside for a moment, then turned to see the cat jumping onto an overflowing trash can with a graceful leap. It nosed around in the garbage, then emerged with half a mackerel in its mouth.

"Arf?"

"Meow." The cat tilted its head towards a pile of wooden crates next to the trash can. The puppy hesitated, then clambered onto the pile and leaped towards the trash can. He landed safely, but the momentum of his leap sent the trash can crashing towards the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. When he managed to dig his way out of the garbage, the cat was staring at him in a half-exasperated way.

"Auh," he whined apologetically, but his attention was soon diverted by a half-eaten piece of steak. He tucked in excitedly, missing the cat's purr of amusement before it turned back to its mackerel.

Suddenly the back door flew open and a man in clothes covered with grease charged out with a broom. "Shoo! Shoo! Stay away!" he roared, and both animals took to their heels in terror and bolted down the alley, leaving their half-eaten meal behind them.

Later, the two of them walked along the pavement, keeping close to the shopfronts so they would not be caught up in the heavy flow of pedestrians. When it began to rain, they sought shelter in a large cardboard box outside a boarded-up outlet. The puppy readily licked the cat dry, and after a pause the cat returned the favor.

Gradually, the downpour slowed to a trickle. It was as if the rain had washed away the noisy hubbub of the city, with the only remaining sound the soft pitter-patter of raindrops on the awning overhead. The puppy yawned once, twice, then curled up around the cat. He felt his new friend snuggle into his fur, and went to sleep with a contented feeling in his heart.

The next morning he opened his eyes to see a face peering at him from outside. He jolted awake, startling the cat as well. They both stared warily at the intruder.

"It's okay. I'm here to help you." Gentle hands lifted the puppy out of the box. "You've got a collar around your neck – that'll make it easier to find your family. Don't worry, you'll be home before you know it."

The puppy didn't understand a word, but he knew it would be safe to trust this human. He did not want to leave his friend alone though. "Arf!" he barked as he scrambled to get down onto the ground, while the cat meowed insistently.

"Oh alright, you can come too." And that was how they ended up in the back seat of someone's car, huddled close to each other.

Hours later, they were approaching the house the puppy had lived in what seemed half a lifetime ago. He poked his head out of the car window, his ears flapping in the wind and the cat at his side. When the car finally stopped in front of the gate, he all but leapt out of the window in excitement.

"Mako-chan! You're back!" His little master and mistress were there, and he ran straight into their open arms. As they embraced him tightly, saying how much they missed him, he glanced out of the corner of one eye and saw his friend hanging shyly at the edge of the group.

"Arf!"

It was then that his owners noticed the cat. "Aww, a kitty! Can we keep him too, Mama?"

"You want a cat for a pet as well? Alright then, but Ran, Ren, you two must be responsible for both of them and make sure they never come to any harm, understood?"

"Yes Mama! So what should we name him?"

"Neko-chan?"

"No, that's too generic."

"Aroo!"

"Mako-chan, is the kitty's name 'aroo'?"

"No, that's stupid. I know! What about 'Haru'?"

"Yeah! We'll call you Haru-chan!" And they drew the surprised Haru into the group hug as well, their arms encircled tightly around both dark and light fur. Haru resisted at first, then slowly got used to it and started to purr.

Mako looked at him happily. _Welcome to the family, Haru-chan!_


	20. Day 20: Admitting Defeat

"… and all the generals said 'O prime minister, your plans are such that even gods and demons could not predict them'."

"For the seventh time," one of the children giggled.

"Can't they come up with a new line to kiss ass with?" another one piped up, and they all laughed.

Haruka shrugged. "I guess the author was sensible enough to put more thought into other details in the story more important than creative ways of sucking up to people. Now do you want me to continue or not?"

"Continue!" a chorus of young voices chirped.

So Haruka went on, reading from his tattered copy of _Romance of the Three Kingdoms _about how the barbarian general Meng Huo was offered a chance to leave and raise yet another army to challenge the renowned war strategist Zhuge Liang, prime minister of the kingdom of Shu - as he had done six times before. Before, Zhuge Liang had readily released him every time he was captured and yet refused to yield, promising to hold him for good only if he was willing to submit. This time around he was so moved by the prime minister's actions that he finally yielded along with his brothers and allies, and was given back the lands that had been taken from him during the war. Thus the barbarian tribes offered gifts to show their goodwill, swore never to rebel again, and the South was returned to a state of peace.

"But when Zhuge Liang was leading his troops back home, the front line of his army arrived at the waters of Lushui and were confronted with a fierce windstorm that hindered them from advancing. When he heard about it, he summoned Meng Huo for help, and as for what the barbarian general said, all will be revealed in the next chapter."

Amidst the children's collective groans, Haruka stood up and tucked his book under one arm. "Oh come on, you know that's how these novels go."

"But we wanna know what happens next _now_!"

"Yeah!"

"Then come back tomorrow, but for now, isn't it about time you guys would want dinner already?"

"Then see you tomorrow!" the children cried as they ran off, waving goodbye over their shoulders. Haruka smiled at their retreating silhouettes, only to feel a pair of large hands upon his shoulders.

"So what happens next, Mr Storyteller?"

"You should know," he huffed as he turned so that blue eyes met green ones, "aren't you a scholar as well?"

"A would-be scholar, but someone else snitched the top place in the county exams and went on to prefectural exams, leaving me to wait alone back home." Makoto's hand found his as they walked up the path together.

"Like you really did nothing but wait," Haruka snorted. "I came home after the exams to find you gone on a business trip with your father."

"Well, I clearly wasn't very successful with books, so my dad thought I might fare better as a merchant like him."

"You were so busy trading in the capital; you only came back after the New Year."

"Yeah, and the next morning after we returned you stormed over to my house first thing after daybreak. By night though, you were in my bed." Makoto chuckled at the slight tinge of pink on Haruka's cheeks. "I didn't even need to capture you seven times for you to yield."

"Shut up, would-be scholar." Haruka hacked him on the head with his book. "I only wanted to demand an explanation for finding you completely absent from my homecoming, and to gloat in your face about advancing to the college exams while I was at it, not to lose my virginity."

"Funny how things worked out then – I admitted defeat to you in the classroom, but the roles were reversed in the bedroom."

"Oh, is that so?" There was a bright gleam in Haruka's eyes. "And how many times would I need to capture _you_ for you to yield?"

"As many as you like," Makoto told him before planting a kiss on his forehead.


	21. Day 21: Long Distance Call

Four beeps. Then five. Rin was never known for his patience, and he was about to hang up when the call was – finally – picked up.

"Hello?"

"Oi Nanase, you sleeping in or something today? Well rise and shine, it's time to get your ass off the bed."

"Rin? Isn't it noon in Australia right now?"

"Yeah, because being the thoughtful and considerate person I am I waited until it was late morning in Tokyo before calling, and instead I get put on hold."

"Whatever. So you just called to wake me up?"

"No, idiot. It's about you and Makoto coming over next week." Rin paused to make room for Sousuke on the sofa as the other settled across from him with a book.

"Remember how you guys were supposed to take the guest room at our apartment?"

"Aah - huh? Oh – yeah."

"Well, we have to modify the arrangements. This damned water pipe burst, and now half our place is soaked. Sousuke and I have had to camp out in the living room the past couple of nights ourselves – though this idiot here keeps hogging the sofa and making me sleep on the floor." He jabbed Sousuke's thigh with his foot to prove his point, and was met with a raised eyebrow.

"… Haru? Hello, you still there?"

"Ye – yeah."

Rin completely missed the quiver in Haruka's voice. "Great, so as I was saying, I've talked to Russell and Lori, and they say you guys can stay at their house instead. Their spare bedroom's a bit small, but you and Makoto should be able to manage."

"Makoto…"

"Yes, Makoto, your boyfriend with the diabetes-inducing smile who you always tell off for calling you 'Haru-chan'. Remember him?" Rin let out a huff of annoyance. "Really Haru, I had no idea you were this out of it in the morning."

"Sorry – aah…"

"Or you're currently having an asthma attack," Rin deduced from the ragged breathing on the other end of the line. He looked up to see Sousuke's curious glance over the top of his novel and shrugged in return to show that he had no idea what was going on either.

"Never mind, all you need to know is you won't need to sleep on the streets of Sydney when you come visit. Oh, Russell and Lori want us to stay for dinner after you guys settle in. Now that I recall, Makoto's never tried Lori's cooking, has he?"

"Makoto – there…"

"Makoto where? Haru, are you even paying attention? What - " Ri stopped suddenly as a soft moan rang in his ear, and in less than three seconds he understood. He'd never heard Haruka sound like that before – and neither did he want to – but he knew perfectly well what was going on now.

"Haru, pass the phone to Makoto."

He waited until Makoto's "Hello?" came from the other end before exploding. "TACHIBANA, COULD YOU **PLEASE** NOT GIVE YOUR BOYFRIEND A MORING BLOWJOB WHILE I'M ON THE LINE WITH HIM FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLANET?!"

Sousuke burst out laughing, while Makoto's sheepish voice came through the receiver. "Ah, sorry Rin. It's just I couldn't resist, Haru-chan's particularly sensitive down there when he's just woken up - "

"I DON'T CARE WHEN ANY PART OF HIM IS SENSITIVE AND I DON'T WANT TO KNOW EITHER!" Rin took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing. "Look, how about I just email you guys the details later? Then you can hang up and… carry on."

"Okay, thanks."

Rin put down the phone with a sigh, then glared sideways at Sousuke. "And what are you sniggering at?"

"Nothing, just that you got treated to a porn audio clip and you didn't even know." Sousuke deflected the pillow aimed at him with his novel and continued smirking.

Rin reclaimed the pillow sulkily. "That's it, this time you're sleeping on the floor. Now get off, you oaf."

"But why? I thought you always wanted the bottom bunk."

"Oh, very witty. Now OFF." Rin sat up to push his boyfriend off, only to be pulled in and trapped in large strong arms. "Oi!"

"Come now, don't be so testy." Sousuke held Rin's face in his hands so that their noses were barely inches away from each other, their breaths mingling together. "Why don't we share the sofa?" he whispered. "If you let me stay, I might give you a morning blowjob as well."

"Bribing won't work on me," Rin insisted, even as his cheeks flared up.

"Then maybe this will," Sousuke suggested before pulling his boyfriend in to close the distance between their lips.

Suffice to say, nobody slept on the floor that night.

…

When Makoto put the receiver back in its cradle on the nightstand, Haruka raised an eyebrow that asked So?

"Rin says he's going to email us the details later, so everything's fine."

"Good." Next thing he knew, Makoto was lying on his back with Haruka straddling him. "Haru…?"

"Don't jump me when I'm on the phone ever again," Haruka admonished before dipping down to mark his collarbone with a love bite.

"But you didn't seem to mind… aah!" Haruka had rubbed his thumb over one of Makoto's nipples, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I mind, okay?" Blue eyes held green ones firmly in their gaze. "You're the only one I'd allow to ever see or hear this side of me, understood?"

Makoto shivered again, but this time it wasn't from any physical stimulation. "Yes," he whispered hoarsely before throwing his head back as Haruka put full attention on his chest.


	22. Day 22: Argument

Any relationship, whether platonic or otherwise, is full of firsts. The first time they met, the first words they exchanged, the first joke they shared, the first of many selfies they took together. And there were the downers too: the first time one of them broke a promise made to the other, the first disagreement they had, the first feelings of guilt at having offended the other. They are all natural parts of human interaction, and there was no need to be scared of them.

Yet right now, Makoto was scared.

He supposed there was the possibility he was just making a mountain out of a molehill, but frankly when you have your first argument after nearly eighteen years of knowing each other you were bound to worry. He and Haruka had been through so much, having grown up together almost to the day they were born, and when Haruka seemed as if he was at a loss as what path to take for his future naturally Makoto wanted to help. If he'd known it would turn out this way though…

No. He'd needed to let Haruka know both his and their friends' concerns for him, and he would've had to tell him about his decision to further his studies in Tokyo eventually anyway. Still, he wondered if he could've done things differently, so they wouldn't have parted in such a bad way as they did. That night, watching his best friend run further away from him, he could clearly feel a stab of pain inside him.

They hadn't seen each other since, Haruka having gone to Australia with Rin. Today would be the first time they met face to face after that night, and Makoto could hardly remember a time when he had been more nervous. What would Haruka say to him? Would he still be upset? And… had he made his choice yet?

No matter what he chose, Makoto would support him fully, but the idea of them being apart in two different places, when they'd spent their entire lives never far from each other, left a hollow feeling inside him.

He stood in the middle of the airport terminal, just another person in the milling crowd. Then he saw a familiar figure make towards him, and despite everything that had happened, or all the emotions churning within him, the corners of his mouth lifted up as the other approached closer.

"Okaeri."

Blue eyes looked up, and as he gazed into them a new feeling welled up inside him: the feeling that everything would turn out fine.

"Tadaima."

His smile grew wider. They would get through this together, as they had done everything else for as long as they could remember. _Welcome home, Haru._


	23. Day 23: Unexplained Kink

**THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT HAS AN NSFW RATING. THOU HAST BEEN FOREWARNED.**

Haruka looked up from the package in front of him to Makoto's flushed face, then back. "You want me to wear… stockings."

"Um, yeah." Makoto looked as if he was barely capable of speech.

The mackerel-lover drew out one of the package's contents. "Thigh high stockings. Made of cotton. From a women's wear brand." His blue eyes fixed themselves on Makoto again. "Do you have a foot fetish I don't know about?"

"Wha – no! I just – I thought you would look good in them… you're know, while we're…" Makoto trailed off, apparently having exhausted his supply of words.

Haruka raised an eyebrow. His boyfriend had been the one who first asked whether he was comfortable with wearing outfits while they made love, yet now Makoto was blushing furiously as if he would be the one wearing them instead. Also, the stockings came across as rather tame compared to what Haruka had pictured when he'd agreed to Makoto's request – fishnet stockings, or a corset, or even lingerie…

Huh. Maybe he was the one with a hitherto-undisclosed fetish, apparently for crossdressing.

Makoto seemed like he was going to spontaneously combust if left to his own devices any longer though, so Haruka sighed and took out the other stocking as well before discarding the packaging aside. "Fine. But you have to put them on for me."

"Wha – what?"

"You're the one who wanted it in the first place, so you do the honors. I'll even give you a headstart." He deposited the stockings in Makoto's hands, then slid out of his pants and boxers and threw them off the bed onto the floor. He then held out a bare leg towards his boyfriend. "Well?"

Makoto gulped once, then slowly took a stocking and rolled it up, stretching it open with his fingers while his thumbs kept the folds in place. He then held it to Haruka's foot and gingerly pulled it up his leg, spreading the fabric over his skin. When he reached the thigh, he let go of the hem, and the elastic band snapped lightly against Haruka's flesh.

There was another silence, then "By the way, why pick white?"

"Um, well, if I picked another color like red or black it… wouldn't suit you…"

"So white's my type of color?"

"Well, there's blue too, and – mmph!" Makoto found himself pulled down into a kiss, his boyfriend's tongue parting his lips and sliding in to rub against his own. When they parted they were both slightly breathless.

"You're too innocent," Haruka muttered as he ran his fingers through Makoto's hair. "Honestly, I was a bit surprised when you first asked me. I wouldn't have thought you would have a liking for this sort of thing."

Makoto laughed shakily. "Is that… is that so?"

"Mm. Though unfortunately, you have to finish what you started." Haruka thought for a while, then grabbed Makoto's arms.

"Haru! What - " In the blink of an eye, Makoto found himself on his hands and knees, with Haruka's legs below his face. Behind him, his pants were suddenly pulled down. "Haru!"

"Shh, don't say anything. Just put on the other stocking."

Makoto was rolling up the stocking when he felt something wet press against his tip. "Haru… aah…"

"Well don't just freeze there, I'd look like a fool with only one stocking on," Haruka chided before turning back to Makoto's member.

So the taller boy complied, but not before kissing and sucking each and every one of his boyfriend's toes. He continued showering every inch of Haruka's leg with soft kisses and nips before pulling the fabric over it. Shivers of pleasure raced through Haruka's entire body, and he put more effort into lavishing Makoto's whole length with his tongue.

When Makoto let the hem of the stocking smack against the sensitive skin of Haruka's inner thigh, he heard a soft gasp from behind and the corners of his mouth lifted. "I'm done," he announced as he lifted himself up, and the lewd pop made by Haruka's mouth releasing his member sent his blood rushing south. He turned and straddled his boyfriend's slender frame sitting against the headboard, before capturing Haruka's swollen lips in another kiss.

They finally broke apart and he placed another kiss on the cheek, then the chin, then all down the neck and on the shoulder before returning to the chest. He circled a nipple with his tongue, then trapped it between his lips and sucked gently, all the while fondling the other with his fingers.

Haruka let out a tremulous breath. "You didn't take long to get over being so awkward."

"That was thanks to you," Makoto told him before continuing down his torso, peppering his abdomen with butterfly kisses. He coyly avoided Haruka's groin though, skipping directly to his inner thigh. He bit gently on the skin just above the hem of the stocking, then ran his tongue around the spot before sucking on it.

"That's going to leave a mark."

"I know." He raised his eyes, and Haruka's heart skipped a beat at the predatory stare fixed on him. Next thing he knew, he was throwing his head back with a moan as Makoto drew a trail with his tongue down the inside of his leg, the wetness seeping through the thin cotton and clinging to his skin. When Makoto reached his foot, he lifted his leg and put his lips to the arch of his insole, soaking the fabric there thoroughly to the tender skin underneath with his mouth. Every breath he let out blew small air currents across the wet surface, stimulating Haruka in ways he'd never imagined before.

"Enough," he groaned, and felt Makoto's tongue stop directly over a particularly sensitive spot right in the middle of his sole. His next words were accompanied by shivers from the contact. "Please… just take me now."

"But you aren't prepared yet - "

"Lube in the second drawer of the nightstand."

A bit of fumbling with the bottle and then he was arching backwards as Makoto put the tip of a finger inside him, drawing circles around the inside of his perineum and going deeper in with each cycle. He pulled his boyfriend down, their mouths clashing together as a second and then a third slid in as well. When the fingers rubbed against the walls of his insides, it was as if he would melt from the stimulation.

"I – I think I'm ready now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just want you inside me now."

Makoto withdrew his fingers and straightened, taking in the sight of his boyfriend spread out completely undone before him, his stiff and erect member framed by those slender legs of his in their long white stockings. Wordlessly, he pushed Haruka up against the headboard and drove into him, ever as their mouths locked together yet again. Haruka's stockinged legs wound around his sides, slipped downwards due to the smooth cotton material, then pulled themselves up and clung on firmly.

"Damn these stockings, I'm going to have bruises on my thighs by tomorrow," he complained between kisses.

"And I'll have bruises on my waist from the way you're gripping me so tightly."

"All your fault. You're the one who went and bought these – haah!" he broke off as he jerked upwards. Makoto had found his prostate, and he now drilled into it relentlessly with every thrust.

"I'm glad I did, otherwise I'd never see you looking so _beautiful_," he whispered in Haruka's ear, and that was the catalyst that sent the blue-eyed swimmer over the edge. His entire body trembled violently and his insides clenched tightly around Makoto, who bent down for one more kiss before he gave over to the pleasure as well.


	24. Day 24: Injured

"Show me the wound."

Makoto gingerly lifted his right leg, where a crimson red streak began from just below the edge of his shorts and ran down the length of his leg. Haruka inhaled sharply; he had no idea it was this bad. "What in the world did you do to get yourself in this state?"

The taller boy scratched the back of his hand sheepishly. "Well, there was this car driving towards me, so I turned my bike to the side to avoid it. Ah, but I did get out of the way in time! I just, uh, lost my balance and -"

"And went skidding down the road with bike in tow," Haruka finished for him. The red streak obviously didn't come from a mere fall; the momentum of Makoto's abrupt turn to avoid the car must have toppled his bike off balance and dragged him a good few inches across the rocky ground. It didn't help that the bike had fallen on top of him – Makoto may have been well-built for an eight-year-old, but even he couldn't be pinned to the ground by a two-wheeler and walk away unscathed.

"But at least I was in front of Haru-chan's house and Haru-chan saw me," Makoto said before laughing lightly.

"Drop the –chan. Do you really think this is a laughing matter?" As if to prove his point, Haruka dabbed the wound with a damp cotton ball using what was probably a little more force than was necessary.

"Ah, Haru-chan, that hurts!"

"Guess you don't find it so funny now. You should be thankful I didn't put your leg under a running tap like I'm supposed to." In truth, Haruka had dropped the notion because Makoto hadn't seemed capable of standing on his own feet for more than two seconds before collapsing. It had already been hard enough half-dragging, half-carrying him to the front porch, so a longer trip to the bathroom was out. Haruka had to settle for a basin of water and a heap of cotton balls.

"What is it?" Makoto asked when he noticed a pause in the movements of Haruka's hand. He followed his friend's gaze to the top of his knee, where the cut ran deeper than the rest of the wound.

"There's some bits of sand and gravel stuck to the side of the cut. This could be tough." Haruka got up and left, returning a minute later with cotton buds and a mug.

"This is salt water, so it'll sting a little. It helps to kill germs though." Dipping one end of a cotton bud into the mug, Haruka then proceeded to prod the cut gently in an attempt to remove the dirt.

"Ah! Aaah… Haru…: Makoto's hand found Haruka's other arm and gripped it instinctively as he gritted his teeth and tried to bear the pain.

"Makoto, you're restricting my movements. Let go of my arm."

"I can't!"

Haruka sighed. "Fine." He reached for another cotton bud, then another, and finally a good half a dozen cotton buds lay discarded to the side and the cut, as well as the rest of the wound, was thoroughly cleaned.

Makoro's grip on Haruka's left arm loosened slightly, although he still didn't let go. "Is it over yet?"

"No, I still have to put on antiseptic." Haruka got a bottle of yellow liquid and used another cotton bud to apply it to the wound.

Makoto watched silently as he worked, before letting out a little sigh. "I guess this means I won't be teaching you to ride on a bike today."

"It's your own fault, being so eager take on the streets after barely getting the hang of it yourself less than a week ago," Haruka chided a dejected Makoto. "Your parents won't be happy when they find out."

"Mum'll probably take away my bike," Makoto agreed sadly. "I'm sorry, Haru. I really wanted to go out and play with you today."

"Never mind. We can stay in and play chess or something."

"But you'll be bored soon. You don't even like chess that much."

Haruka paused, then bent down his head and kissed Makoto's knee softly, right beside the cut. He looked up into the face of a suddenly furiously blushing Makoto. "That's so your wound will heal faster. Then we can go out to play."

As Makoto squawked out a flustered "Ha-haru!" Haruka made a mental note to himself that Makoto was sensitive to kisses on the leg. He intended to fully utilize that information in the future.

…

Years later Haruka had learned that the leg wasn't Makoto's only sensitive spot. He did spot a pattern though.

"Why is your right leg always injured in one way or another?" he muttered as he lay on his stomach facing the red streak that ran up Makoto's leg, though this one was a burn instead.

"Always?" Makoto peered down curiously at the top of Haruka's head nestled between his bare legs.

"You don't give your body enough time to heal. The falling debris incident was barely a month ago and now you've gone and burnt yourself on top of everything."

"Ah… well, being a firefighter does seem to come with more risks." Haruka didn't even need to look up to know that Makoto was scratching the back of his head sheepishly again.

"You should quit that part-time job of yours. You've already got enough on your hands with coaching the sports centre's junior swimming classes."

"But the fire station is short on staff – if I left, they'd be even more overworked than they are now. And besides, it's right next to the café you work in."

"I'm sure you can survive not being within a mile's radius of me all day."

"Oh, but then I wouldn't be able to enjoy the lunch Haru-chan prepared for me."

"Drop the –chan." It had become an automatic response by now, every though he knew it had absolutely no effect whatsoever. He was going to be called (and protesting the use of) 'Haru-chan' as long as he and Makoto were together, which he hoped would be till the end of his days.

Still, he sat up abruptly. "I'm leaving. You can take care of yourself," he quipped, picking up Makoto's pants which had been thrown to the side and throwing it at his lover's head.

"You're going to leave me like this?! You're so heartless, Haru!" They both knew he didn't mean it though, and Makoto's next words came with his usual sweet smile. "Well then, a kiss on the wound to let it heal faster then?"

Haruka obliged, trailing kisses along Makoto's leg and further on, tracing a path up his thigh. He coyly stopped short of the part of Makoto's anatomy that desired his mouth the most at present. "There. Do you think that's enough?"

Makoto let out a throaty groan. "Not by far," he growled in a low voice as he pulled Haruka closer.

Suffice to say, if the speed of a wound's recovery really depended on the number of kisses given, then Makoto's leg would be good as new in no time after that night.


	25. Day 25: It's For You

The first cracks happened when they were six.

Haruka had finally convinced Makoto that he wouldn't get caught if he went for a swim in the lake situated in the school gardens. It was their afternoon recess, and while most boys their age spent that time playing ball games or tag in the sprawling lawns, they preferred wandering around campus together at leisure. Some days they found a quiet corner in the library and read in companionable silence; others they spent in the stables with the horses or exploring corridors and marveling at the suits of armor, brilliant paintings and other wonders they would find within. The academy was housed in an old country mansion, and there was always something new to discover every day.

Of course, Haruka had discovered the lake on the very first day, but Makoto always held him back from stripping right there and then and jumping in, reminding him that the professors never said anything about students being allowed to swim in the lake, so it was probably off-limits; the lake might be too deep and he would be in danger of drowning; he would catch a cold if he attended classes after recess while still dripping wet; and besides, he could always wait until he was home for the weekend to swim in the pool in his family's estate. Haruka always complied, but not without insisting every time that the lake was way bigger than the pool at home, so he had to try it at least once.

Apparently his day had finally come, for this time Makoto didn't put up too much of a fight as he discarded his tie and blazer. Just as he had stripped down to his jammers (his odd choice of underwear) and splashed into the water though, he looked up to see Makoto hesitantly unbuttoning the front of his shirt as well. "Makoto? What are you doing?"

"I – I'll swim with you! Then when – I mean, if anyone catches us, I'll say I made you swim with me!"

Haruka shook his head in disbelief. "You're an idiot. Even if you tell them that, they'll still punish me anyway. They know you're too big of a softie to force anyone against their will."

"I – I'll do it anyway!" Makoto waded into the cool water to stand before his friend. "If you get in trouble, I won't let you be alone, Haru-chan!"

"Drop the –chan," Haruka replied automatically. "Fine, do whatever you want; I'm going to swim to the opposite bank."

"I'll swim with you! We can see who gets there first!"

"I'm not interesting in racing." You wouldn't have known it from the speed at which Haruka cut across the water's surface though.

Makoto did his best to catch up, and soon the two were almost neck-to-neck, with Haruka pulling ahead by a few inches. They reached the other shore and doubled back, their arms propelling themselves forwards until they were back at their starting point. Haruka let his legs sink and stood up, watching as Makoto did so as well a moment later. The corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted at the sight of Makoto panting happily while water dripped from his hair.

"That was fun!" the sandy-haired boy gasped while catching his breath. He caught Haruka smiling at him and beamed back in return before the other could turn away, causing Haruka's cheeks to strangely heat up.

That was when they both felt a ripple resonate throughout their bodies, and they both shivered involuntarily.

"Did it suddenly get cold?"

"I don't know, I - " Haruka's eyes fell upon the locket around Makoto's neck. "Your heart's jewel. It's cracked."

"What?" Makoto's hand flew to the emerald-tinted gem hanging below the hollow of his neck. He stared at the crack incredulously, then looked up and gasped. "Haru, yours has cracked too!"

Haruka held up his own gem and touched the fissure running down the middle gingerly, its sapphire gleam mirrored in his eyes. "You're right. But then - "

" – we both - "

Makoto's voice trailed off, and they were suspended in a moment of silence. Then Haruka cleared his throat. "Let's get out, it really is getting cold standing in here."

"Oh! Uh – yeah!" As they put on their uniforms though, without saying anything to each other, they both tucked their lockets into their shirts, hiding them from view.

...

Unbeknownst to them, miles away from the academy a heated discussion was going on in the royal council room.

"This is insane! You would have us act against a law of nature, a fundamental part of humanity from the beginning of time!"

"Yes, and history would tell you what follies that supposed 'fundamental part' has caused. Disloyalty, abandonment of duty, even bloodshed, all for the cracking of a useless stone."

"If you would call a part of your own soul useless, it is apparent who the fool here is truly."

"Sentimentality does not manage or protect a country, nor can I see any way in which it has been of use to the same ends. Let the common people love and be loved however they like, but those who lead and command do not have such a luxury. We who serve the realm cannot let anything come between us and our responsibilities."

"So you would have our next generation of leaders be nothing more than pawns, to marry as their superiors see fit in the name of maintaining peace? Our council will soon find itself lacking of successors; who would want such a fate?"

"You'd be surprised, there are many who would give up their personal desires for the nation."

"Or wealth and power, more like."

"We have the means to do so; why not? If it brings peace and order to the kingdom, I don't see why we shouldn't do it."

That was when the king cleared his throat, and every eye in the room turned to him. "My lords and trusted advisors, we are still at too early a stage to make a final decision regarding this matter. We must needs be cautious and wise, weighing all related consequences before we act. There will be many who will be affected by this, and there is still much left to be discussed."

"Your Highness speaks true," the others replied in unison, and the meeting adjourned not long after.

...

Twelve years later, and the two boys who once raced in the lake were now the cream of the crop in the academy. Their talents lay in different fields, one a rising star in military affairs and the other tipped to be the next junior minister, but they had remained the closest of friends, with a bond that nobody else was able to break though. Of late the rest of the school seemed unable to take a hint though, as Haruka found out to his annoyance when he walked into homeroom one morning to find his seat occupied – again.

"Ah, good morning Haru-chan."

"Drop the –chan," he intoned, although his eyes were fixed on the girl who'd claimed his place.

"Oh, sorry Nanase-kun! Here, you can have your seat back!" The girl stood up and left, but not before giving a little wave to Makoto. "Talk to you next time, Makoto-kun!"

Haruka plopped his bookbag down. "So you two are on first-name terms now?"

Makoto shrugged. "She just likes calling me by that. I don't mind one way or the other."

Blue eyes narrowed. "Did she ask about your heart's jewel as well?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"And nothing. I just told her it had already cracked, and I already knew who my other half was, and that was it."

The two of them had been rather conspicuous from primary school onwards, being the only two who did not display their heart's jewels on the front of their chests like everyone else. Traditionally only people whose jewels had cracked hid them under their clothing, for it was said that leaving the jewel in plain sight after its first crack would doom the budding relationship. Every child in the academy knew that, yet they did nothing more than stare curiously at the two, up until high school. Then the interrogations began.

"You would've thought they would've known it a long time ago since first grade, but no, every last one of them has to come ask and hear it for themselves," Haruka muttered as he stabbed at a lemon cake, only to squirt cream on Rin's face. By high school students took classes according to the path of their future careers, which meant different recess times. As a result the only time Haruka and Makoto saw each other during school was in homeroom, and he spent most of his free periods in the company of his sharktoothed classmate.

Rin wiped the cream off with a napkin and shrugged. "They just like being let down to their faces. Same thing happens for me and Sousuke." He'd concealed his heart's jewel just before middle school, and nobody in his circle of friends needed to be told the cracks on his jewel matched those of his childhood friend – which didn't stop the rest of the senior class from approaching him to ask though. Luckily, Haruka only needed one meeting to know that Sousuke cared deeply for Rin – a bit too deeply at times, in fact.

"Speaking of which, check this out." Rin was now grinning from ear to ear as he drew out his jewel from under his uniform. Haruka's eyes widened at the sight of the crimson and teal halves of the gem, joined in the middle in a pattern resembling flanes licking each other.

"You… he gave you his… when?"

"Last night. He sneaked some liquor into campus, so we locked ourselves in his room and got dead drunk. Turns out he's most honest when inebriated though – he said a whole lot of things he never told me before." Rin's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink at the memory. "Then we ended up in his bed, and although I think we were mostly sober by then – at least, I remember everything that happened afterwards clearly, so we couldn't have been too far gone – the alcohol was still racing through my bloodstream, you know? And then we were kissing, and – well, one thing led to another. We found the halves on the sheets this morning."

"Huh." The catalyst for heart's jewels breaking so they could be exchanged varied from person to person, but losing one's virginity wasn't a reason unheard of.

"At least the guy can stop glaring at me like I'm planning to elope with you now."

"I dunno, maybe he'll glare worse than ever. The more he knows something's his, the more he's loath to let it go."

"And you're actually fine with it, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Shows that he cares about me." Rin's smug grin threatened to spill out of his face.

"So what about you and Makoto? Can't be too far from your own breaking now."

"Well, I won't be doing anything on purpose about it. I'll just let - " Haruka was cut off by the jingle over the intercom that preceded an announcement.

"Would all seniors please assemble in the auditorium now. I repeat, would all seniors…"

"An assembly?" Rin wrinkled his brow. "What could that be about?"

"Guess we'll find out soon," Haruka replied as they joined the stream of students in the corridor.

…

"They're splitting our heart's jewels?" That was the word on everyone's lips among the senior classes for the rest of the day. Haruka barely noticed though; it was as if he was looking at everything through a glass screen, detached from his surroundings in a haze of surrealism. Rin kept sending him worried glances from two rows away but he was oblivious to them, and also the low-volume conversations around him.

"I hear the council pulled off this new thing because they'd had too many incidents of junior members involved in scandals because of having given half of their heart's jewels to lower-class people."

"Or like that time that deranged lieutenant threw a torch at his betrothed's house because she'd exchanged halves with someone else. Apparently he thought not having his feelings returned was good justification to burn someone's place down."

"What about that minister who arranged a marriage for his daughter only to discover on the wedding day itself that the bridegroom had some serving girl's half merged with his own?"

"He probably wished he could chop the guy's jewel in half. Maybe he was the one who came up with this idea."

"Well, then I'd like to chop him in half."

"What are you so upset about? It's not like your jewel's started cracking, right?"

"Yeah, I shouldn't be upset over getting treated like a random brick, to be combined with another piece at will. This is just so our parents can arrange marriages more easily, I tell you."

"Can't say we haven't been expecting that though; almost everyone in the academy is gonna end up hitched to a complete stranger. That's how it is as an elite."

"Some manage to find the other half of their heart's jewels though. At least the council won't insist on tearing apart the jewels of people who've already exchanged halves."

"Great, so they might not have qualms about destroying budding romances, but by all means if you've slept together then they'll let you off the hook. Not so cold-blooded and heartless after all."

Rin snorted to himself at the last quip, then glanced towards Haruka again only to find him sitting erect in his seat, blue eyes flashing. Oh good, he's showing signs of life. He wondered whether he should be worried about this new change though – it was a bit too sudden to be passed off as normal. "Damnit Makoto, just claim his half already so someone else can worry their head off about him for a change," he muttered under his breath.

…

Makoto's ears perked up at the three soft knocks on his door. His face broke into a smile at the thought of the only person he knew who knocked in such a fashion. "Come in, the door's not locked." He turned from his desk to see Haruka closing the door behind him.

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Of course you're not." He straightened the papers on his desk before moving to sit on his bed. "Do you need anything, Haru-chan?"

"Drop the –chan." The reply was as familiar as the feeling of the mattress sagging to his right as Haruka settled beside him. After a long pause, his friend spoke up.

"You… you were at today's assembly, right?"

Makoto blinked in confusion. "Uh, yes?" All the seniors had been there, of course he was too.

"So… what do you think of the new decree?"  
"You mean about splitting heart's jewels? Well, I guess I could see why the council would make such a decision – I mean, we've all heard the stories before. And for them to decide to carry out the procedure before our final exams – I suppose it's so we can concentrate on preparing for them? You know, with the heart's jewels already split others wouldn't be fixated with their jewels cracking or - "

"I meant regarding us."

"Oh." Makoto fell silent, and the awkward tension grew in the room until Haruka could take it no longer.

"Do you really have nothing to say?"

"Huh? Oh – uh – well no, not really. I mean, well, they said our heart's jewels will still be able to bond with our future partner's, so there won't be any ill side effects. It's perfectly fine…" he trailed off as he stared down at his hands, deliberately looking away from Haruka's piercing gaze. Then he suddenly jolted in surprise as Haruka reached for his locket, drawing out the emerald gem from inside his shirt. He held it in his palm and ran a finger down the middle, where the crack had nearly divided the entire gem in two.

"Ha – haru?"

"Here." Haruka tapped the bottom of the fissure. "This was from the night before the military exercise, when you went through the drills for the last time with me. And this was when you rescued that middle-schooler from that frenzied horse and I had to take you to the hospital wing because you got a kick to the hip and fractured it. This was when we went to the summer festival together last year."

"You remember all of them?"

"Of course I did." Haruka paused. "Every time a new crack appeared, I would spend days looking at my jewel whenever I was alone, until I could close my eyes and draw it perfectly from memory. I've been like that from the first time." He touched the crack at the very tip of the jewel, which had grown deeper and wider over the years. "I think it was seeing you standing in the water with your hair dripping wet, face all flushed from swimming – that was when I felt it. You know, whatever it is that causes heart's jewels to crack." His own face was also flushed by now.

"If our jewels really got split from the council, they would erase the cracks and leave us with symmetrical halves and smooth edges. It would be like everything we ever went through together, every moment we shared that caused another crack, would be wiped out of our memories." Blue eyes stared into green ones firmly. "But I never want to forget them. I want to keep them forever – and keep you too."

"Haru…"

"I know it's possible for cracks to mend when a relationship ends without actually coming to fruition, and if that's what you want I won't oppose it, but… there's a selfish part of me that never wants to let you go, or let you forget what happened between us. Because like it or not, one half of my heart is already yours." Haruka let the final sentence hang in the air, then suddenly had to look away as his face burned hotly.

"Haru… but why would you ever think I would forget?" Something in Makoto's voice made Haruka turn back to face him, and when their eyes met he was struck by the tenderness overflowing in those green orbs.

"Because… well, It seemed like you were getting closer to those other classmates, like that girl this morning, or they were getting closer to you, and… ugh, I'm just jealous, okay?" Embarrassed by his confession, Haruka hid his face in one palm, only for Makoto to gently pull his hand away so they were face to face.

"It's alright, I understand how you feel. I also get jealous as well."

Haruka was surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah. For example, I can't help but envy the relationship you have with Rin – you're both rivals and good friends, and there are parts of you that he knows better than me. The truth is, I know you're the kind of person to go with the flow and not make a fuss over things, so I let our friendship run its course naturally, when actually I want to be so much more." Makoto's cheeks were growing redder now. "I want to be the one you rely on, who you turn to when you need help. I want to be there for you whether you're happy or sad, to go through all of life's ups and downs with you. I want to be truly worthy of your heart's jewel."

Haruka was struck speechless, but Makoto wasn't finished yet. "The reason why I had nothing to remark on the new decree was because… because no matter whether my heart breaks naturally or is split equally, you're the only one I'd give my half to." He pulled Haruka closer so their foreheads were touching. "It's always been meant for you. From the moment it began to crack. So hearing all you said, how you felt… that me so very happy."

"Idiot," Haruka replied, too overcome to say anything else. He was suddenly aware of how close their lips were, how if he leaned forward just a few inches…

Then a crisp ping broke the silence, and they both looked down at the same time to find half of their heat's jewel in their laps.

Makoto was the first to move after the initial surprise had worn off. Gingerly picking up his shard of emerald, he held it out to Haruka with both hands. "Here. Now I can finally give you what is yours."

Haruka picked up his own sapphire piece, then after a heartbeat reached for Makoto's locket again. The taller boy soon understood, and drew out Haruka's half-empty locket as well. Together they both fitted the halves into the slots in each other's lockets.

The light from the window caught on the newly-melded gems, and hues of blue and green glinted off the surfaces. Makoto gently ran a finger down the middle of his jewel where the two halves met, then looked up when Haruka called his name softly. "Yes – mmph!"

The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but to them it was like an eternity, where everything they hadn't been able to put onto words now passed between them as their lips pressed against each other.

They finally broke apart, then Haruka cleared his throat. "Well, guess it didn't take losing virginity for it to break after all."

Dazed as he was by the kiss, Makoto only let out a half-comprehending "What?"

"Nothing of importance." Haruka rested his head on his soulmate's shoulder and traced a line down Makoto's jawline with one finger. "We'll just work through it one at a time, together."

He felt Makoto's mouth curl up into a smile. "That sounds good."

…

"Next: Haruka Nanase. Your heart's jewel, please."

The official took one look at the locket presented before him and nodded as he typed something into the computer. "Thank you. Since you do not require undergoing the procedure, you may leave now."

"Yes, sir." Haruka's face was expressionless during the entire exchange, but as he turned to leave a small smile played across his lips. He walked across the room and opened the door, then stepped out to where Makoto was waiting for him.


	26. Day 26: Lucky Charm

He is calm and still on the couch, waiting for the next person to come in. His parents had already left after saying their goodbyes, and while of course he will miss them, there is one who he has to bid farewell to, before he leaves to face whatever is in store for him, although it will most likely end in his death.

The door opens, and he looks up to see a familiar figure escorted by a Peacekeeper.

"Makoto."

"Haru-chan."

He has stood up, ready to give his parting words, maybe assure him that he would do his best to come back, or even just protest the usage of the suffix after his name as he had done countless times before and probably never will have the chance to again. But before he can even open his mouth Makoto has wrapped his arms around him, pulling him so close he can hear his heartbeat as his head is pressed to his chest.

He does not move then, but closes his eyes as fingers run through his hair like they have done so many times in the past. When his chin is tilted up and lips are pressed to his, he does not hesitate to deepen the kiss himself. This is anything but the time to hold back; everything that happens now he knows he will store away in his memories like a precious treasure, to draw strength from in the days ahead.

They finally break apart, and he tries to speak again but never does. He'd already put everything he wanted to convey, every word he might never be able to say or would never say again, all of that into that kiss, and one looks into Makoto's eyes tells him that he'd understood. So he leads him to the couch where they sit side by side, black hair resting against broad shoulders, their hands entwined in his lap.

"Where's Ran and Ren?"

"My parents already took them home. I guess they were tired out from the ceremony."

He knows the truth though; he'd heard their cries and sobs as he walked to the stage after his name was called. He'd hoped to see them before he had to leave; other than his parents and late grandmother, Makoto's family was the only people he counted himself as being close to, introvert that he was. However, he does not want his last glimpse of the twins be of their teary faces, so it was as well he wouldn't see them anyway.

"Here. Help me pass these to them." He rummages in the pocket of his dress pants and pulled out two small wood carvings that fit snugly into his palm. They depicted identical bird figurines, with outstretched wings and bulging eyes. He'd been helping the siblings spring-clean when they stumbled across an old drawing of a seagull Makoto had made in preschool, and the twins had found their older brother's crude art skills rather comical.

"When did you make them?"

"Just now, when I was waiting for the Peacekeepers to bring in my parents."

"You sure work fast."

"It wasn't difficult. All I needed to do was make sure the eyes stuck out enough." He smiles at the sound of Makoto's laughter; who knows whether he'd ever hear it again.

"Hey, Makoto."

"Yeah?"

"When I've left… promise me you'll still laugh, okay? I never want you to forget how to laugh."

Makoto's smile falls, and he is silent for a while. Then he looks up again. "I promise. Because I want to be there when you come back, so the first thing you hear when you step off the train from the Capitol is my laugh."

'Makoto, I can't - "

"You can. You've got as good a chance as any Career tribute in there. You're strong, and your hands are really skillful, and you can easily get food for yourself."

"I can fish. You're hoping they'll have nothing but mackerel in the arena? Fat chance."

Makoto chuckles. "That would be an advantage. I honestly do think you can come back though – I mean, I don't want to put any pressure on you, but," he grips his lover's hands tightly, "I refuse to think this is the last time we'll see each other."

He pauses for a while, then reaches into his pocket. "Remember this?" He holds out his palm.

"It's the earring you found that day on the beach." Makoto had picked up the solitary earring one evening when walking along the water's edge with him.

"Here." The hair on the left of his head was parted to reveal his ear, and the earring was gingerly attached to the tiny hole pierced into the lobe. "For luck."

"Luck?"

"Yeah. Tributes are allowed to take something from home into the arena, right? So if you don't mind, I'd like you to have this as your district token."

He reaches up a hand to feel the bump of the red jewel in the earring against the smooth skin of his earlobe. "I will. I mean, I'll wear it in the Games… and I'll come home." He had resigned himself to his fate of possible death, but now he has a reason to try and win these Games. He can't disappoint Makoto.

The door opens and a Peacekeeper strides in just as they part from another kiss. It is time for Makoto to leave, but not before squeezing his hand one last time. "I'll be waiting for you." Then the door closes and he is gone.

…

He sits up in bed abruptly, and his eyes find the door on the opposite wall from his bed, next to the dresser. In no way does it resemble the door of the room in the Justice Building, yet if he tries hard enough, he can imagine that it has just closed and he can still walk over to it, throw it open and call Makoto's name, and Makoto will turn around and crinkle his eyes as he smiles in response.

I'll be waiting for you. "That's what you said. You promised the first thing I'd hear when I step off the train would be your laugh," he says aloud in the silence of a new morning.

After the dark days he'd spent in the arena, with ghastly memories that still haunt him and cause him to wake up screaming in the dead of night, the first time he truly smiled after being declared victor was when they played the recap of the Games and they got to the part where the final eight tributes' families and friends are interviewed. He saw Makoto's beaming face as he told the reporter how the district had started a fund to sponsor him in the Games, heard Makoto's light laugh when she remarks on the little posse of kids hanging about him as he talked, and the corners of his lips gradually lifted, slowly as if they were struggling to remember the action from a lifetime ago.

Then they're down to the final two tributes, and the reporter returns to District 4 to catch everyone's reactions to the possibility of having another victor from their district, only to find out that the handsome young fisherman with the bright green eyes was lost at sea in a fierce storm just two days ago. At the time the footage was taken, his boat had washed up on the beach, but the body hadn't been recovered yet.

That was when all of Panem watched in shock as the latest winner of the Games fainted in his seat, his unconscious form slumping against the backrest.

When he woke up days later, he was back in the bed with the sterile white sheets in which he found himself the first time he opened his eyes after collapsing in the hovercraft that was taking him out of the arena. His victor's crown was delivered to his hospital room two days later. Presumably it is still lying broken in the corner where he'd thrown it.

Knock knock. "Sir, are you awake?"

He snaps out of his reverie. "Yes. Come in, May." He gets out of bed as a stout homely-looking woman opens the door.

"What is it?"

"Miss Seaworth is here to see you."

He raises an eyebrow. He would see Mags at the training centre later; why would she come to his house herself now? "Show her to the sitting room and tell her I'll be down in a few minutes."

When he came downstairs later, Mags was chatting with May as the latter poured her a mug of milk. They were both from the same neighbourhood, and after the shipwreck that claimed the lives of May's husband as well as half his fishing crew she'd suggested he take her on as a domestic help. Thanks to the wages she earned working for him, her four children did not want for anything and were doing well both in school and in training.

"Ah, Sir has come down. I'll leave you two to your business then."

"Thank you, May." He sat himself in an armchair and waited as Mags finished the mug.

"Nothing like a good mug of milk in the morning – there's never enough of it in this fish-stinking place," she declared in her strong fisherfolk accent as she set the mug down. "But of course I didn't come here merely to take advantage of your hospitality."

"Of course not." Mays was the oldest victor in the district and commanded a high degree of respect in the community, as well as being something of a legendary figure to the children who came for training. She was strict and took no nonsense when coaching though, but also got along easily with her students and was a beloved mentor. She'd taken him under her wing during the days leading up to his Games, and had been a source of strength after he was crowned victor and his world came falling apart.

Now she leaned forward and rested her hands on her thighs. "I just heard the weather report on the radio. There's to be really foul weather this evening. SA real maelstrom, the announcer calls it, and while I know the old coot's always had a flair for dramatics I don't think he's too far off the mark this time. The whole district is advised to stay indoors."

"I see. We'll have to end training earlier today so the students can get home safely then."

"I don't need you to tell me that. I only came to make sure you know about the storm so you won't go sailing out into danger."

He tenses. "Mags, I can't - "

"You can." The exchange sends a cold shiver down his spine as a memory was triggered, but Mags is oblivious to the change in his facial expression. "Either you don't go, or if you absolutely insist, you take the day off and go out in the afternoon so you'll be back before it strikes."

"But today's when we make the final decision for this year's volunteers. I have to be there."

"Then be there. And go straight home afterwards. I'll have May lock all the doors and windows if I have to." Mags lets out a deep breath. "Every year I tell you this, and every year you go anyway. This time though, you have to listen to me for once. Let go of the past. Don't go out there today. It's not worth it risking your life for somebody that's already gone."

"He's not gone." The words fall out of his mouth involuntarily. "I risked everything in the arena just so I could come back to him, and I'll never stop believing I'll find him someday. I know he's out there, still waiting for me."

She sighs. "It's that earring, isn't it? The one you came across in that junk shop, which you claimed was the twin to your own."

He smiles faintly as he touches the front pocket on the left of his shirt, right over his heart. "He gave me my lucky charm. It's only right that I give him his." The smile turns sad. "After the ceremony… it was like the world had disappeared under my feet and I was freefalling. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I would've been so broken I would never pick myself up again."

"But you did. Those kids in the interview, they were inspired by you in the Games, and wanted to learn how to fend for themselves in case they got reaped. You showed them that surviving in the arena isn't just pure luck for people like us, that it was possible to try their best and actually come home, and he wanted to encourage that. When you learned he'd been teaching them basic survival skills and how to handle things like knives and spears that could be used in self-defense, you took on the task yourself and changed the entire district. Now we don't send helpless twelve-year-olds to die in the arena. We prepare our children the best we can so they can live and return home."

"Not all of them do though." He stands up and walks to the window, gazing out at the bay sprawling before him. "As if trying to survive the Games wasn't bad enough, having to send two children in every year, knowing that at the most only one would survive…" He lets out a sigh. "I've lasted so long, and I'll do anything I can to keep what we've done going, but now… now it seems I can finally shed my burden. It won't be fair to you and the other victors, having to go on without me, but I believe I've left everything in good hands. It's about time I went to him."

When he turns around, Mags is walking towards him. She lays a hand on his shoulder. "You're already set on going, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Then go. Heaven knows how much you've suffered for so long, perhaps more than the rest of us who lived through our Games. We all don't have anyone left to love, yet you still hold on to yours as tightly as the day you left him. Go and be with him."

He wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly. "Thank you."

…

The weather announcer told it true; it was indeed a fierce rage of a storm. His boat stubbornly refused to be overturned however, bobbing up and down on the tumultuous waves as he steers towards the eye of the storm.

He is not sure what he is looking for, what he might find that would be different from what he sees the day the train from the Capitol pulls into the station and he steps out to a hollow feeling that invades his heart and can never be filled. That afternoon he dodged the reporters and cameramen and sailed out to sea, shouting Makoto's name until the sun went down and he had no more tears left in him. He has done the same every year on the anniversary of his return to the district, and every time he would come back from sea to another year of painful loneliness.

Not today though. He may not know what it is, but he knows he would recognize it when it emerges to free him. So when the behemoth of a tidal wave comes rushing towards him, he meets it with open arms.

It is strangely calm in the water, a stark contrast to the chaos on the surface. He feels all the years of pain and suffering leach out from him, carried away by the current. Vaguely, he realizes that both the earring on his left ear and the one in his front pocket are missing.

He doesn't mind. He knows they have ended up together, deep in the heart of the ocean.

"Haru-chan," comes the voice, clear as day. He sees green eyes, a warm smile, a hand outstretched to him. A light crisp laugh finally rings in his ear, just like he was promised. Okaeri, it seems to say. Welcome back.

He accepts the hand without hesitation. "Tadaima," he whispers as he is pulled towards the white light overhead. I'm home.


	27. Day 27: Moving In

Izumi walked down the airport terminal in a crowd of people, her eyes scanning her surroundings. She had never seen this uncle of hers, so instead she looked for her name in the throng of signs at the barrier where people waited for whoever they were supposed to pick up. Then she heard someone call her, and she headed towards the end of the walkway where a black-haired man stood apart from the rest, pulling her large suitcase along behind her.

"Are you Izumi?"

"Yes. You're Uncle Makoto?"

The man smiled. "No, but he sent me to get you. Now come on."

She hesitated, suddenly wary of him. Growing up in New York had taught her not to trust strangers easily. "How do I know you're really from my uncle?"

"Pretty sharp, aren't you?" The man drew a hand into his pocket and pulled out something. "Makoto told me to bring this so you'd recognize me."

Her eyes widened at the little carving resting in his palm. "Iwatobi-chan?"

"Yeah. I used to carve a lot of these, but Makoto said a stuffed toy would be better for a baby, so I used some old cloth and sewed you a cotton Iwatobi-chan instead."

A memory surfaced in her mind. "You're Uncle Haru?" Her mother had mentioned briefly that a family friend had made her favorite doll that she always dragged around with her when she was little, but she'd never been told more about him, so he'd been just another name in a corner of her mind – until now.

Several hours later they were getting off the train station at Iwatobi. He'd spent the entire journey from Tokyo answering her questions about what Uncle Makoto was like, how did they get to know each other, did he know her mother as well, and so on.

"Your mother and her twin brother used to ask me to play with them all the time, and they always tried to stay up late with me and Makoto when I slept over at their house. They would go out like a light before ten though, and then Makoto and I would have to carry them to their beds."

She laughed. "Uncle Ren never told me that."

"Well, nobody ever goes around sharing their childhood tales, except once they retire maybe. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ren in months now."

"My mom said he's very busy running his company. That's why she couldn't send me to live with him like she planned originally." Izumi would've preferred living with Uncle Ren than this other brother of her mother's whom she'd never even met before, but after Haru's anecdotes she'd decided Uncle Makoto wouldn't be too bad. She was growing quite fond of Haru himself as well.

Now as they walked down a street together she suddenly thought of something. "Uncle Haru, do you live near Uncle Makoto's place? Because if you do, then I can come visit you!"

"You won't have to do that; Makoto and I live together."

"You two are married?" Izumi had noticed the ring on his right hand before, but she'd assumed he had a wife. It explained the tenderness in his voice whenever he mentioned her uncle though. "Mom never told me that."

"Well, it's not legal in Japan yet, but really all that we're missing is the certificate. Ah, there it is." They had reached the waterfront, and he now pointed to a cafe with a gaily-colored awning and tables out front. "We live right up there, so it's easy for me to run the business downstairs."

Izumi did not take her eyes away from the sea to their left as they walked. "You must have a beautiful view of the ocean from your cafe."

"I know, it's why we chose to open shop here. We used to walk past here every day on our way to school and back." They entered the cafe and Haruka nodded his head in response to the employees' greetings, then helped her carry her luggage up the stairs.

She stopped short at the sight of the living area. "Wow," she breathed as she took in the delicate seashell wind chimes hanging from the ceiling, adding a bit of otherworldliness to the simple layout of the room. She reached out and gently touched one of the seashells, and it clinked softly against the others. The different colors painted on them gave the seashells a multi-colored glow in the light coming from the window.

"Did you make all these?"

"Just as a hobby in my spare time." Haruka had taken her luggage into a small bedroom off the hallway that let out of the living area. The first thing she noticed when she joined him there was the large window taking up nearly the whole of one wall.

"I was right, you do have an amazing view of the sea."

"We thought you'd like it. I'll leave you to unpack; come out to the living area when you're done."

She didn't move to open her suitcase until after he'd closed the door behind him, then pulled out the drawers in her wardrobe and arranged stacks of folded clothes in them.

Her luggage was mostly clothes, with a few favorite books and trinkets. She hadn't brought much with her from America; she would be living in a new country, studying in a new school, using a different language. Her mother had called it a fresh start for both of them – her posting abroad provided many career opportunities, and her daughter would be able to come home from school to a house that wasn't empty, and have a father figure in her life for once. Well, apparently fate decided to make up for that, for now it seemed she would have two of those.

When she returned to the living area, a tall man was already seated at the low table. Green eyes looked up and saw her, and a smile emerged on his face. "Ah, hello Izumi. Are you comfortable with your room?"

"Yes, thank you Uncle Makoto." His face almost felt familiar by now, thanks to the numerous photos Haruka had shown her on the train, for apparently he had a hobby of snapping pictures with his phone when Makoto wasn't aware.

"Where's Uncle Haru?"

"He's preparing dinner downstairs. We don't have a kitchen up here because the one in the cafe is enough for our needs." Just then a call of "Oi, Makoto" sounded from the stairway and he excused himself for a moment.

He soon came back with a tray while Haruka trailed behind him. Izumi stared at the plate set before her. "Mackerel?"

"You'd better get used to it, Haru cooks it every day."

"If you want to eat anything else though, just tell me."

"Then I would like - "

"Not you Makoto, you're stuck with mackerel."

"Haru, that's not fair!"

"Shut up and eat." Haruka stuffed a piece of fish into Makoto's mouth, which he accepted with a grin.

Izumi watched all this with curious eyes. "Are you two like this every day?"

"Pretty much. What's a husband for if not to act like a lovesick fool with?"

"Haru, don't say it like that."

"Why, are you embarrassed Uncle Makoto?"

"Not you too, Izumi!"

"Alright alright, I'll make it up to you. Here Izumi, you have some more too." Haruka fed Makoto another piece of fish, then put an extra helping on her plate.

As the meal went on, Izumi noticed little details, like how her two uncles interacted with one another, or how she could easily join their conversation without feeling out of place, or how a few seconds never went by without a bout of laughter at something funny someone had said. She'd been apprehensive about living with a relative who was practically a stranger before, but now that worry felt like it was completely unfounded. Even she would've never expected she would feel so at home so quickly though.

_Is this what a family feels like?_

She ate another bite of the mackerel, which really didn't taste half bad. It seemed this new phase of her life was off to a pretty good start.


	28. Day 28: New Shirt

The shop assistant walked over to Yumi. "Can I help you?"

"Ah yes, I'm looking for a men's dress shirt. Um, I have measurements here." She handed him a piece of paper.

"I see. Would this be suitable?"

"Oh yes, it's perfect thank you."

"Rather rare for a young woman to be buying a dress shirt on her own," the assistant remarked as he scanned the purchase at the register.

"Oh, it's not for me actually. I'm buying this for someone; it's a special occasion, but he's stuck in hospital so he couldn't come himself." She accepted the bag from the assistant and turned to leave. "Thanks so much!"

When she got back, her colleagues jumped on her immediately. "What took you so long?"

"Did you get it or not?"

"I did!" She brandished the bag containing the shirt triumphantly.

"Great, give it to him, he needs to get changed."

"Ooh, let me do it."

"Idiot, his arms don't need bandages any more, he can put on his own clothes just fine. Can't have an admirer like you messing about with him on today of all days. Yumi, you go give it to him."

"Got it."

She opened the door of the patient room and walked towards the bed at the end of the aisle. "Tachibana-san?"

"Ah, Yumi-san." His smile was bedazzling as always. "I'm so sorry you had to go to the trouble of buying this for me."

"No trouble at all," she replied cheerfully. "I'll leave you to change then."

When she headed out, the nurses' station was abuzz with the arrival of a familiar visitor. "Nagisa-kun, when's Nanase-san going to be here?"

"In a few minutes," Nagisa supplied. "Rei-chan'll be along then as well. I just showed up first to make sure everything's ready."

"Well, we have Tachibana-san's old school tie. That's something old."

"Yep, just like Mako-chan to have no other tie at all. And Yumi-chan already got the shirt, right?" Nagisa turned his grin on Yumi.

"Yeah, he's putting it on already. That makes for something new."

"Haru-chan's already borrowed Rei-chan's dress pants, so that's something borrowed. And I've got the something blue right here." Nagisa patted his pocket, then looked up. "Ah, they're here already! Now we can start!"

…

When Haruka first stepped into that hospital room, he'd badly wanted to be anywhere but there. Or to be more exact, he wanted Makoto to be anywhere but where he lay underneath the white streets with wires running from under his loose robes to a monitor that sat beeping beside his bed.

He'd been trying to save stranded victims of the fire when a burning collapsed on him, Haruka was told. At the time he was wearing his fireproof coat, but that didn't spare him from having to be rushed into the emergency room on the double in an ambulance. By the time Haruka got there, after having dropped everything he was doing when he received the call from the fire station, he'd been moved to a regular hospital room but still required close observation.

"You idiot," Haruka muttered as he ran a hand gently along a bandaged arm. "You just couldn't stand aside without trying to help, could you."

His fingers had moved up to Makoto's face, which was covered with soot by the fire, when he felt his boyfriend stir.

"Makoto?"

"Ha – haru…" Green eyes opened slightly – and then immediately welled up.

"It's okay, it's okay." Haruka wiped the tears away and squeezed Makoto's hand tightly. "You're fine now. You're safe."

"Haru, I – I was so scared…"

"I know. Makoto, I know." Haruka desperately wanted to hug his lover, holding him to his chest and never letting him go, but Makoto's present state did not allow for that so he had to settle for stroking his sandy hair tenderly instead. He could say that he'd already warned Makoto of the high risk when he'd first signed up to train as a firefighter, but right now he was feeling nothing but gratitude that he still had his lover.

Tears kept running down Makoto's face. "When that beam came crashing down on me, I was so afraid… afraid I would die, afraid I would never see you again… I – I never want to leave you."

"And I never want to lose you." Haruka kissed the top of Makoto's head softly. "I want to have you with me, forever."

…

A week later, when he got off the lift on Makoto's floor, the nurses were all sending him glances from behind their clipboards and giggling, only to pretend they were busy with whatever they were doing whenever he stopped to look back.

What is up with this place today? he wondered as he entered the hospital room, only to be presented with a large bouquet of roses when he got to Makoto's bed. The red of the blooms nearly matched the color of Makoto's face, yet he held them out to Haruka firmly.

"Nanase Haruka, will you marry me?"

His eyes widened. "Makoto, this is - "

"I know it's a bit sudden, but… well, I've had plenty of time to think while lying here in bed, and I realized… as scared as I was when I got hurt, it must have been worse for you to worry about how I was. I can't promise that I'll never leave your side, nor can I hope that you'll always be with me, but I can promise you I'll always come back to you. Or if for some reason I can't, I'll always be waiting for you to find me." Makoto's eyes peered over the bouquet. "…well?"

"… How in the world did you get this while stuck in this place?"

"The firefighter let out a laugh, and the flush on his face faded slightly. "I got one of the nurses to buy it for me. Is that really all you have to say though?"

"No. I also want to say…" Haruka bent down over the bouquet and kissed Makoto, the flowery fragrance mingling with Makoto's familiar scent in his nose. When they broke off, he kept his hands around the back of Makoto's neck, pressing their foreheads together as he breathed out his next word, "… yes."

…

They couldn't actually go to a marriage registrar, so instead Rei took up the position of officiator. Nagisa was best man, and Rin sent a postcard from Australia berating them for getting hitched when he couldn't be around and wishing them happiness in their new life. Yumi had once wondered aloud why they didn't choose to do it once Makoto was discharged, and he'd smiled and explained the date was the anniversary of the start of their romantic relationship, and "it was here that I made my decision to commit my life to Haru fully, so I guess it's fitting we do it here."

They also would have willing volunteers to fill in as bridesmaids, Nagisa added cheekily, although "there isn't a bride, so I guess you guys can just be the well-wishers instead." And they happily obliged; every hospital personnel that could be spared was there as the couple exchanged vows and gleaming sapphire rings, before Haruka leant over the bed railing for their first kiss as newlyweds.

"Don't you just love weddings?" a nurse beside Yumi sighed happily.

She grinned in agreement. "Absolutely."


	29. Day 29: No Regrets

Its wings were as red as the sky above them, gleaming bright against the last rays of sunlight.

They sat on the bench in peaceful silence, Makoto's head on Haruka's shoulder, watching as the sun sank behind the hills in the distance.

"It's been a long day, hasn't it?"

"Mmm." Haruka gently stroked Makoto's silver hair, as he had done so many times before over the years.

"But we've done so much today, haven't we? Going to all those places… that waterfront we always passed going to and coming back from school, the shrine we used to pray at, the platform overlooking the sea…" Makoto smiled a bit sadly. "Do you remember there were fireworks the night we argued there?"

"Shh, it's all past now. I ran away then, but I came back in the end, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You always found your way back to me no matter what, over and over again."

"And you always waited for me." Haruka tucked a stray hair behind Makoto's ear. "And after everything that happened, all those times we lost and found each other and then were driven apart again, here we are together now."

"And will continue to be. Right?" The green eyes of the boy Haruka fell in love with twinkled amidst the wrinkles of the aged face.

"Right." Haruka leaned down and pressed his lips to Makoto's, then looked out at the horizon as the butterfly took off and flew into the sunset, while Makoto's breathing slowed and eventually stopped.

A year later, a red butterfly flew into the shrine where the wake was being held and rested on the open lid of the coffin Haruka lay in, his eyes closed in eternal slumber. Later, it was two butterflies that flew out together, their wings gleaming against the sunlight.


End file.
